


Who Has to Know?

by Trufreak89



Category: Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Frenemies, Friends With Benefits, Scylla & Byron are twins, Updates Wednesdays
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:28:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29828409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trufreak89/pseuds/Trufreak89
Summary: Scylla Ramshorn is the kind of insufferable know it all that grates on Raelle’s Collar’s last nerve; while Raelle is the kind of arrogant jock that makes Scylla wish she were in college already. Sparks fly when the two get paired up for a school project, and they realise there’s more between them than just hatred.What starts off as a no strings attached arrangement grows messy when Raelle starts falling for the other girl. It’s not as simple as coming clean, though — not when Scylla has a boyfriend and secrets of her own.
Relationships: Porter & Scylla Ramshorn, Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn
Comments: 90
Kudos: 256





	1. Chapter 1

Raelle Collar answered her cell phone with a heavy sigh after the third time it rang in as many minutes. “I’m coming! I’m coming!” She said, not giving her best friend a chance to speak before hanging up and tucking the phone away in the back pocket of her ripped skinny jeans. Raelle pulled on the flannel shirt hanging over her desk chair and grabbed her backpack from its spot by the door. 

She flew down the stairs, shouting out to her parents as she reached the bottom and yanked open the front door. “I’m going to school. Bye Momma, bye Pops!”

“Raelle! You haven’t eaten breakfast!” Her long suffering mother called after the teen, but she might as well have saved her breath as the front door slammed shut behind Raelle.

She trotted to the end of the drive where her best friend - and next-door neighbour - Tally Craven sat waiting for her in her car. “Sorry, sorry!” She said, throwing herself in to the front passenger seat with a sheepish smile. “I overslept.” 

“You always oversleep, Rae.” Tally rolled her eyes, but the other teen was a good-natured soul and her irritation didn’t last long. Within minutes she was animatedly talking about Senior Homecoming. 

Raelle, who couldn't care less about Homecoming, nodded along like she was listening until they pulled up in the high school parking lot. Fort Salem was a small Massachusetts town with a single high school and more churches than coffee shops. 

Raelle had moved to the town from the Cession with her parents four years ago and had become fast friends with the bubbly redhead living next door. 

Tally, who was tall and graceful, was the polar opposite to Raelle; who could be known to trip over her own untied shoelaces at times. 

The pair climbed out of Tally’s car while their other best friend looked on from her usual parking spot. Abigail Bellweather made a show of checking her watch as they greeted her. 

“You’re late. Again.” Abigail was a type A personality and the last person in the world Raelle ever expected to consider a close friend, but the other girl’s bark was worse than her bite. The pair had started off on rocky ground, friends only through Tally - who had known Abigail since kindergarten - but they’d soon warmed to one another. The trio were practically inseparable. 

“Tally slept in.” Said Raelle. 

“What? No, I didn’t! It was Rae!” The redhead grew flustered, her cheeks turning the same shade as her hair. 

“Relax, Tal. The only time you’re ever late is because of Raelle.” Abigail rolled her eyes. It was the same thing every time. Raelle Collar would be late for her own funeral, given half a chance. 

Raelle opened her mouth to defend herself when a muscle car pulled up in the empty spot beside Abigail’s SUV, old school rock blasting from the speakers at an obnoxious volume that set Raelle’s teeth on edge.

“Morning, ladies!” Said the dark-haired teen who stepped out of the front passenger side. He flashed them a grin as he did up the single button of his suit jacket. As usual, he was far too overdressed for a day at school. Raelle wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him without a collared shirt on other than when he was in his lacrosse uniform. 

“Morning, Byron!” Tally greeted him with a cheerful wave before addressing the driver of the car as he slung his satchel over his shoulder. “Hey, Porter! Excited for Homecoming?” 

“Sure am.” He Answered with an easygoing smile. Porter Tippet was the All-American-blue-eyed-boy that every small town high school had. He was the star of the lacrosse team and most likely to be crowned Homecoming King. Raelle had to hand it to him, though. He was a nice enough guy. “Hey Raelle, Abigail.”

“Hey.” Said Raelle, doing her best to ignore the dark-haired girl climbing out of the back of Porter’s car. Scylla Ramshorn had her face buried in a book and didn’t so much as acknowledge the other girls as she walked off ahead of the boys. Byron and Porter followed at a more leisurely pace, waving at the girls as they left.

Raelle watched Scylla walk off with a scowl. “She’s so fucking rude!” 

“Here were go again…” Abigail chuckled. “Here comes another Ramshorn Rant.” 

“Well, she is!” Huffed Raelle. There was no love lost between her and the other senior. “Would it kill her to say hello? She thinks she’s so above everyone else!” 

“Rae, be nice.” Scolded Tally. She knew all too well how Raelle could get about the other girl when she got going. The two had butted heads right from the start in a clash of personalities. 

“She’s right, Tal.” Said Abigail. “I honestly don’t see what Porter sees in her. Like, I get Byron’s his best friend, but that doesn’t mean he has to put up with dating his sister. It’s been two years, and he still hasn’t traded her ass in. He could do so much better!”

“Guys! Seriously, be nice. Scylla’s had it really hard!” 

“So her parents died, boo-hoo. That doesn’t entitle her to be a total bitch.” Abigail gave a dismissive shrug of her shoulders. Tally gave up trying to defend the other girl and moved the conversation to what she’d be wearing for Homecoming, knowing full well the best way to get Abigail to drop something was to distract her with something else. 

Raelle popped her airpods in to her ears, blocking the conversation about dresses and sequins out as they walked in to the school. Raelle’s locker was down the hall from Abigail and Tally’s. She left them to go drop off her heavy calculus textbook. She wouldn’t need it until third period and she’d be damned if she was going to lug it around with her all morning.

The downside of Raelle’s locker, other than being down the other end of the hall from her friends’, was that it was right next to Scylla’s. The other girl was already standing there when Raelle walked up to the row of lockers.

She entered the combination and popped open the locker, carelessly tossing the calculus book inside with a bang. Meanwhile, Scylla stood by her own locker, preening at her hair in front of a mirror fixed to the inside of the door. Along with mirror were countless pictures of Scylla, Porter and her twin brother Byron. 

The twins obviously weren’t identical, but they both had the same striking dark looks. Where Byron was a social butterfly, Scylla was something of an introvert. Raelle rarely saw her with anyone other than Byron or Porter. From what she knew, the twins had been close with Porter forever, and nobody was surprised when Scylla and Porter started dating a couple of years ago. 

Raelle watched as the boy in question came up behind Scylla, wrapping his arms around her waist and making her jump as he scooped her off his feet. “Porter!” She slapped at his shoulder with a giggle that grated on Raelle’s last nerve. She slammed her locker shut, ignoring the couple. 

Her foul mood from waking up late carried over in to the morning and the lesson before lunch; AP Biology. Raelle normally enjoyed Professor Izadora’s class. She’d had her for Chemistry the year before and the eccentric teacher insisted they either address her by ‘Professor’ or her first name. Her lessons were usually engaging and interesting, but Raelle couldn’t focus on what was being said. She sat doodling in her notebook instead. 

Her lack of attention didn’t go unnoticed by the eagle eyed teacher. “Collar, can you tell me which part of the brain you would find the auditory cortex?” Izadora stood at the front of the classroom, her arms crossed and her expression impatient. 

“Uh…” Raelle looked up from her notebook to find the entire class staring at her. Her cheeks grew red as she struggled to recall the answer; despite Izadora having been speaking about just that for the last ten minutes. Beside her, Tally desperately tried to catch her eye as she pointed to the answer in her notes. “I…” 

Across the room, Scylla’s hand shot up. Raelle clenched her teeth as Izadora turned and pointed at her. “Yes, Miss Ramshorn.” 

“It’s in the frontal lobe, Professor.” She said, that smug smile of hers sitting proudly on her lips as she answered. Raelle bit back a sneer as the other girl glanced back at her. 

“That is correct, and what is the purpose of the auditory cortex, Raelle?” Raelle wasn’t sure if that was a rhetorical question or not, but she answered anyway.

“For listening, Professor.” 

“Listening! That is correct! Please do me the kindness of engaging your auditory cortex for the rest of this lesson and then see me after class.” 

“Yes, Professor.” Raelle muttered. She glared at the back of Scylla’s head as Izadora carried on with the presentation up on the board.

When the lunch bell rang, Raelle packed up her things slowly, hanging back by Izadora’s desk as the rest of the class filed out; including Scylla, who was met at the door by a waiting Porter. Raelle rolled her eyes as the pair took off hand-in-hand. 

“Raelle, talk to me. What’s going on?” Izadora wasn’t one for small talk. She viewed her time as far too valuable for that, and took one of her brightest students daydreaming through her class personally. 

“Uh, late night. Sorry, Professor. It won’t happen again.” Said Raelle, doing a good job of looking thoroughly chastised despite the older woman barely having said a word. Izadora pursed her lips. 

“See that it doesn’t. You’re a bright kid, Raelle. Don’t throw away all that potential on partying, or boys.” 

Raelle bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Izadora couldn’t be further off base. Boys were the last thing on Raelle’s mind. “No, ma’am. I won’t.” She fidgeted with the single strap of her backpack slung over her shoulder. “Um, can I go now?” 

“No, you may not.” Said Izadora. Unlike most of Raelle’s other teachers, she wasn’t placated by cheap lip service. “What do you plan on doing next year, Raelle? What do you want to do for college?” 

Raelle glanced down at her beat up old Converse, avoiding Izadora’s piercing gaze. “I, uh, I’m not sure I’m going to college.” She admitted. 

“You’re kidding me, right?” Izadora frowned, throwing her hands in the air. “Raelle, you’re one of my brightest students! When you listen, of course. You can do anything you want, there must be something that takes your interest?” 

What interested Raelle wasn’t the problem. Her mom was a nurse who worked all the hours God sent and her dad a mechanic who did the same, but even then there was barely enough to cover the bills each month, never mind save for college. 

Raelle shrugged her slender shoulders, her flannel shirt bunching up. “I dunno… I guess I’m interested in medicine.” The truth was, Raelle had wanted to be a doctor for as long as she could remember. She wanted to save lives and make a difference like her momma; but there was no way she or her parents could ever afford four years of college followed by five years of med school. 

Her pride refused to let her admit she would need to work her ass off just to pay her way through community college. Izadora was no fool, though. She’d taught enough bright kids from poorer homes to know what was holding Raelle back. 

“A doctor, huh? Well, you’ll need to know about the parts of the brain for that.” She said with a smirk, unable to resist taking another jab at Raelle’s earlier ignorance. “There are scholarships you could apply for. You’re GPA is certainly high enough and you’re an athlete too, that always helps.”

“Really?” Raelle had put little stock in scholarships. She didn’t think people like her got them. 

“Really.” Said Izadora. She patted the younger woman on the arm. “We’ll look in to some together and I’ll help you apply.” 

Raelle didn’t know what to say. She tucked her hair back behind her ears, her mood lifting. “Professor, I… thank you.” 

“Don’t thank me, just engage more in class, okay?” 

“Sure thing, Professor!” Raelle nodded, a surge of hope swelling in her chest. She’d been resigned to working some dead end minimum-wage job after graduation and maybe putting herself through nursing school at some point.

So the idea of actually getting in to college - of leaving this small town behind - had her walking to the cafeteria with an extra spring in her step. Tally and Abigail were waiting at their usual table for her. It was actually two tables pushed together which twelve of them jammed on to, an eclectic mix of most of the top senior athletes and cheerleaders. 

Abigail and Tally were both track stars and cheerleaders, while Porter, Byron, Clive, Gerit and Adil were all on the lacrosse team. Libba and Glory were on the varsity diving team with Raelle, and Hillary was a cheerleader. 

The odd one out among them was Scylla, who wasn’t an athlete or on the cheer team. She only sat with them because of Porter and Byron. She sat at the far end of the table, her head still buried in the book Raelle had seen her reading earlier that morning. 

Beside her, Byron and Porter horsed around. Porter, the oldest and tallest of the two, had Byron in a headlock and was busy messing up his hair. Scylla looked up from her book and smiled at them.

It was a genuine smile, not one of her usual infuriating smirks. It lasted for only a few moments until Scylla caught Raelle watching her. The smile vanished and Scylla went back to her book, ignoring the rest of the table. Raelle decided not to let it bother her. She was in too much of a good mood to let Scylla Ramshorn bring her down.

“Everyone!” Abigail stood as Raelle took her seat, commanding the attention of almost everyone at the table. “I just wanted to let you all know there’s a party at my place tomorrow night. Mom booked a last minute weekend spa.”

“Alright, party at the Mayor’s mansion!” Hollered Byron, wrestling himself free from Porter’s headlock. “Your parties never get shut down.” 

Byron was right. Abigail’s parties were never interrupted by the police; mostly because her mom was the mayor of Fort Salem. It helped that they lived in a large house up on a hill overlooking the rest of town, and Abigail’s nearest neighbours weren’t close enough to warrant any noise complaints to the police.

Across the table from Abigail, Libba Swythe rolled her eyes with a sneer, “Only because the Mayor slips the sheriff a few bucks to look the over way.” 

“Hey!” Said Byron taking personal offence. “The sheriff isn’t that cheap! It’s a couple of Benjamins or nothing!” The whole table cracked up laughing — All except Scylla, who scowled at the back of her brother’s head. 

Sheriff Anacostia Quartermaine was their foster mother. She’d taken the twins in five years ago after the car accident that killed their parents. She wouldn’t appreciate Byron cracking jokes about her integrity. 

Abigail carried on as the laughter died down. “You’re all invited, so bring a bottle and your lovely selves to my house for seven o’clock!” 

Raelle hid a sigh behind a fake cough. Abigail had sprung the party on her at the same time as the others. She’d already invited Raelle and Tally to stay over at her house tomorrow night. She knew Raelle hated parties. At the other end of the table, Scylla wore the same less than enthusiastic expression.   
  
  


After School Raelle walked home by herself. Tally and Abigail had cheerleading practise and Raelle had far too much to do to stay back and watch them. It was only the first month of senior year, yet Raelle was already drowning in homework. 

She caught her mom leaving for work as she walked through the front door. “Hey, Sweetie. There’s lasagna in the oven to warm up for dinner.” 

“Thanks, Momma.” Raelle dumped her bulging backpack on the sofa. 

“How was your day?” Asked Willa Collar, making small talk as she fixed her hair in front of the mirror in the hallway. 

“Fine.” Said Raelle. She didn’t mention her conversation with Professor Izadora about college and scholarships. Her parents loved her and would work themselves to death to put her through college if they knew she wanted to go in to medicine. Raelle couldn’t put that on them. 

“Hey, Momma, is it okay if I stay at Abigail’s place tomorrow night?” 

“That depends, is she having a party?” 

Willa could read her daughter like a book. Raelle only asked if it was okay to sleep out if one of her friends were having a party; usually hoping to be told no. 

“Yes.” She answered honestly. 

“Will there be boys and alcohol?” 

Raelle pulled a face at her mother’s question. “You hardly need to worry about boys.” 

“So alcohol then?” Willa paused to think about it with her hand on the front door. “Alright, you can go. Just be sensible. I see enough kids getting their stomachs pumped on a Friday night without watching you go through that.” 

“I’ll be careful, Momma. I promise.” Raelle smiled as Willa kissed her on the forehead.

“Alright then. I’ll see you in the morning. Your daddy will be home soon, don’t forget about that lasagna.”

“I won’t.”

Raelle started up the oven once her mother left and set a timer on her phone to remind her about it before she grabbed her schoolbag and trudged upstairs to make a start on her homework. She wanted to get it finished and out of the way so she could spend the rest of the night looking up scholarships. For the first time, Raelle felt a glimmer of hope on the horizon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, folks! I'm hoping to update this fic on Wednesdays.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the great response to the first chapter folks! I updated my other Raylla fic today and figured you all might appreciate the second chapter for this fic before Wednesday. As ever, thanks for reading!

  
Standing on the edge of the top board, looking down at the perfectly still water below, Raelle took a deep breath. She’d dragged herself out of bed early to get to the pool, knowing she’d have it to herself this morning. 

The water was the place Raelle felt happiest. Her momma called her a water baby. She’d been swimming since before she could walk, and diving for almost as long. The water brought her a sense of peace that Raelle couldn’t get anywhere else. No matter what was bothering her, she could always trust the water to keep her worries at bay. 

Raelle needed that right then. She’d been up half the night pouring over scholarships and looking in to the all the hoops she’d have to jump through in order to get one. Yesterday’s optimism had vanished, only to be replaced by the soul-crushing anxiety that she wasn’t good enough. 

Taking another deep breath, Raelle got in to position to do a reverse dive. She sprung off the board, going in to a tuck before unfolding the top half of her body backwards in one fluid motion, completing a successful reverse dive and entering the water in a controlled motion. 

Raelle swam to the bottom of the pool and waited there for as along as she could hold her breath. She surfaced with a gasp a full fifty-five seconds later. A glance at the enormous clock on the wall of the natatorium told her she still had time for a few more dives before homeroom. 

  
  
Sitting in the biology classroom as the second bell rang, Tally bit the inside of her cheek, her eyes glued to the door. Raelle had missed homeroom altogether and was now running late for first period. 

Izadora was on the war path as it was. She’d changed all their seats, stiffly instructing students on where to sit as they walked through the door. Tally was lucky enough to still be sitting next to Abigail, but she didn’t think Raelle would be quite so lucky; especially if she showed up late again.

It was only the first month of senior year, and Raelle had already been late to Izadora’s class three times. If Izadora was looking to make a statement, then Tally could only imagine where she would sit her in class. 

Moments after the second bell, Raelle came rushing through the door, her hair still damp and her t-shirt on inside out. She winced as the door slammed shut behind her with a bang. Izadora looked up from the register, her glasses perched on the end of her nose as she stared the senior girl down.

“Collar, nice of you to join us. Better late than never, I suppose.” Izadora reached for the drawer of her desk to fetch a tardy slip, and Raelle’s eyes widened. Izadora had never written her up for being late before. 

Raelle’s hands came up as she animatedly began rambling about diving practise running over. Izadora rose a single eyebrow at her. “Oh? Then why are both Swythe and Moffat here on time?” She asked, catching Raelle out. 

“Uh…” 

“Professor, Coach kept Raelle back. Sorry I was meant to tell you.” Said Glory, her wide eyes the picture of innocence. Raelle felt a rush of relief as Izadora’s hand stopped reaching for her desk. She could kiss Glory. 

“Hmm, just don’t let it happen again. Take a seat.”

“Thanks, Professor.” Raelle offered the older woman a sheepish smile as she headed for the table she shared with Abigail and Tally. Izadora let her reach it before she called out. 

“Not there. Seats have been assigned now. You’re over there.” Izadora leaned back in her chair, her arms crossed and her expression smug as she nodded at the other side of the classroom. Raelle followed her gaze and felt her heart sink. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she crossed eyes with Scylla Ramshorn of all people. 

Ducking her head, Raelle slunk over to the bench where Scylla sat and dropped her bag by the empty stool. Scylla didn’t look any happier about the situation than Raelle was as she stiffened, her jaw clenching as Raelle took the empty seat beside her.

Izadora finished taking the register and then started the class with a clap of her hands, commanding attention from the slack jawed teens in front of her. “You’re probably all wondering about the new seating arrangements. Well, going foreword you’ll be working in pairs-” A collective groan rang out and Raelle’s voice was the loudest of them all. 

Izadora waved her hands to silence them. “Okay, okay… We have four topics to cover this semester. We’ll be finishing up the Nervous System today and moving on to Hormonal Regulation, something a lot of you could benefit from! Each topic will include a project summarising what you’ve learned, you’ll do this in your pairs and it will go towards your final grades-” Another round of groaning rang out in the classroom. 

Izadora dealt with the noise swiftly, silencing the teens and moving on to the bulk of the day’s lesson. She brought up a Powerpoint on the interactive board and picked up from where they’d left off in the last lesson. 

Raelle sat only half listening, doodling in her notebook. Beside her, Scylla’s nostrils flared and her grip tightened on her pencil. Eventually she snapped, wrenching Raelle’s own pencil out of her hand. “What the hell?” Said the blonde. 

“You should be listening and taking notes!” Scylla hissed, trying to avoid interrupting the lesson and bringing Izadora’s ire down upon them. 

Raelle snatched her pencil back from the other girl with a glower. “I am listening! And I don’t need to take notes, I just remember stuff. I have a great memory.”

Scylla rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe she was partnered with Raelle Collar, of all people. What had she done to deserve such a fate? “Yeah, well-” 

“Is there a problem, ladies?” Izadora stopped and stared at them, bringing their hushed bickering to the attention of the entire class. Raelle felt a dozen pairs of eyes on her as she slunk down on her stool, her shoulders bunching around her ears. To her left, the tips of Scylla’s ears had turned red. 

“No, Professor.” Scylla answered, her expression contrite like it was her first time being told off in a class. Raelle bit back a snort. It probably was. Raelle said nothing. She picked up her pencil and began doodling again as Izadora continued on like there hadn’t been any interruption. 

Raelle caught Scylla’s glare out of the corner of her eye, and it was down right poisonous. She waited until Izadora was in full flow again, explaining in detail what they would need to do for their group project, and leaned in close to Scylla, the tops of their arms brushing together. 

“If you’re really so concerned you can just give me your notes…” If Scylla’s expression had been bitter before, then it was plain murderous then.

The bell finally rang after what felt like an eternity, and Scylla waited behind to catch Izadora — while Raelle was the first one out of the door, practically racing from the class. Scylla approached Izadora’s desk as the last student walked out. 

“Professor, could I ask-” 

“No.” Izadora cut her off without looking up from the papers on her desk. She shuffled through them, seemingly looking for something in particular. Scylla pursed her lips, biting back a scathing comment about not letting her finish. 

She didn’t need to say it, though. It was written all over her face as Izadora looked up, pushing her glasses to the top of her head. “You want me to reassign your partner, and the answer is no.” 

Scylla couldn’t hold back any longer. “But it’s not fair! I’m the smartest person in this class by far and pairing me with some brain dead Jock just to pull her grade up is-” 

Izadora silently held up the paper she was looking for and offered it to Scylla without comment. Scylla took it with a deep set frown. “What’s this?” She asked, even though she recognised it as the pop quiz Izadora gave them last week. She caught the ninety-eight at the top of the page and thought it was her test — until she noticed the name in the corner: Raelle Collar. 

Scylla’s frown deepened, while Izadora’s expression softened. “You and Collar got the same score. You’re highly intelligent, Miss Ramshorn, but so is Raelle. I expect the two of you can come up with some impressive work… I’d be doing you a disservice if I partnered you with anyone else.” Scylla handed the paper back with a huff. It was clear the professor’s mind was made up and there was no changing it. Scylla was just going to have to grit her teeth and somehow get through the next semester without killing Raelle.

* * *

  
  


“Can you believe her? She actually snatched my pencil out of my hand!” Said Raelle, recounting what happened between her and Scylla earlier in the day for what felt like the hundredth time to Abigail and Tally. 

The three of them were in Abigail’s room, getting ready for the party she was holding that night. Within a few hours the Mayor’s Greek Revival style mansion, with its three floors, wrap-around porch and elaborate columns, would be full to the brim with drunk, hormonal teenagers. Abigail had already stashed away anything expensive and breakable. 

She rolled her eyes at having to hear Raelle’s tale of woe again and filled the other girl’s glass back up with straight vodka from the open bottle sitting on her desk. Raelle took a sip with a wince and then launched straight back in to her tirade. “I mean, who the hell does she think she is? 

“Enough about Scylla, already!” Said Abigail, moving to top Tally’s glass up too. The others girls had only been there an hour and Tally’s eyes were already glassy from the effects of the alcohol. She was such a lightweight. 

Abigail flopped on to her bed and picked up her own glass for a toast. “Tonight is all about having a good time!” Tally raised her glass to toast with her, but Raelle did not. She groaned, throwing herself back on Abigail’s bed with a sulk, her glass held between her knees. 

“I hate parties.” She said. “I don’t even know why you invite me!”

“Because I can’t be friends with a social pariah, and you’d be a hermit if we let you be.” Said Abigail. 

Tally nodded along in agreement. “She’s right, Rae. You would be.” Raelle didn’t bother arguing. She knew they were right, but that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it. There were tons of things she would rather do on a Friday night than hang out with a bunch of drunk kids from school. 

Raelle had a horrible thought and bit back a groan. “Wait, is Scylla coming tonight?” 

“Probably.” Abigail shrugged off the question as she stood and crossed the room to finish her makeup in front of the mirror sitting on her vanity table. “I invited everybody, and Byron never misses a party.”

“Great…” Raelle said with a huff of sarcasm as she took a drink from her glass; it would be a long night.   
  
  


Hours later, the party was in full swing. The music blared from the state-of-the-art speaker system spread throughout the house, and far too many people were jammed inside for Raelle’s liking. It looked like most of their Senior year had shown up, along with some Juniors and even the odd Sophomore. 

Raelle battled her way out of the crowded kitchen and slipped out of the sliding door that led on to the back patio. She slid the door shut behind her, the insulated glass cutting off the sound of the pounding heavy base.

The Mayor’s house was over two hundred years old and stood at the top of a bluff, overlooking the rest of their small town. Raelle wrapped her arms around herself as a light breeze came in from the ocean. It was unseasonably warm for late September in New England, but Raelle - who had grown up in the humid South - felt the chill in the air. 

Down below, the lights of the town twinkled and shimmered like fireflies in the darkness. Raelle loved the view from up here. It was like standing on the top of the world.

The groundskeepers had been preparing the yard for the changing of the season and Raelle took a deep breath, savouring the scent of freshly cut grass, fallen leaves and damp earth. She closed her eyes, and it was like she was back home in the woods outside her child house in the Cession, splashing barefoot in the river; times had been simpler then. 

Raelle’s biggest worry had been surviving sixth grade and wondering whether Sarah-May, the cute girl in her class, liked her back. Twelfth grade was a whole other beast, and Raelle’s mind was spinning with scholarships and grade point averages. 

Part of her just wanted it to all go away. She wasn’t quite ready to face the uncertainty of her future in the big wide world yet; but then maybe that was the alcohol talking. 

Her eyes snapped open as she heard the sliding door and the music from the party spilled out in to the quiet night air. She turned and found Scylla standing there. The other girl looked bleary-eyed and unsteady on her feet. 

Her eyes widened as they focused on Raelle. “Oh, sorry… I needed some air.” She gestured vaguely, as if needing to justify her presence there. Raelle shrugged. 

“’S a free country.” She said, shoving her hands in to the pockets of her jeans. “And the yard is big enough to share. You can take the tennis court.” 

“You’re funny.” Scylla chuckled, her eyes softening. Raelle thought it might have been the first time she’d heard the other girl laugh. It sounded nice — again, maybe that was the alcohol talking. 

“Thanks, I’ll be here all weekend.” She grinned, offering the other girl a half bow. She wobbled unsteadily on her feet by the edge of the pool, and Scylla’s expression morphed in to abject horror. 

“Hey, be careful! You shouldn’t be so close to the edge!” 

“Relax! I’m an excellent swimmer…” Raelle dismissed her concern with a wave of her hand. Scylla’s frown remained fixed on her face as she took a cautious step closer. 

“That doesn’t matter, you’re drunk!” 

“Am not!” Raelle scoffed. “If I was drunk, could I do this?” She raised one leg, balancing on one foot by the side of the pool. The move backfired, though. Raelle wobbled, her balance compromised by how much she’d had to drink. She flailed her arms as she felt herself falling back, gravity doing its job and pulling her down towards the water.

Raelle went limp. There was no point fighting such a powerful force of nature. She closed her eyes and waited for the shock of the icy water. It didn’t come. Her body jerked to a stop and when she opened her eyes, Scylla had moved and was holding her by the front of her shirt. She’d saved her from falling in. 

Raelle opened her mouth to thank the other girl when Scylla began berating her. “What the fuck are you doing? That’s not funny, Collar!” 

Raelle swallowed the gratitude that had been on the tip of her tongue as Scylla let go of her shirt and Raelle steadied herself, taking a step away from the ledge. “Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?” 

“I just saved your ass!” 

“From what? A little bit of water?” Raelle scoffed and Scylla’s eyes darkened. 

“You know what, I should have let you fall and smash your head open! It’s not like your using your brains, anyway.” 

“Oh, because I’m not a kiss-ass-teacher’s-pet like you, taking notes in class?” 

“How does writing things down make me a kiss-ass?” 

“Because it does!” 

The arguing raged on, growing to a crescendo as the two girls stood screaming at each other. Raelle’s white-hot temper got the better of her and she shoved the other girl away, trying to get her out of her face before she really snapped. Scylla saw red and pushed her back. 

Raelle couldn’t be sure what happened from there. One moment she was pushing Scylla up against the nearby stucco column, her hands clenched in to fists where she grabbed the other girl’s shirt, and the next their lips were clashing in an angry kiss that bordered on violent. 

Raelle couldn’t say who initiated it. Her mind had gone blank the moment their mouths met. All she could focus on was Scylla’s tongue slipping past her lips and the way the slightly shorter girl’s hands found her shoulders; pulling her in closer.

Whatever spell they were both under broke as the sliding door opened and a familiar voice called out Scylla’s name. Scylla squeaked, her eyes widening as she came to her senses and shoved Raelle away. They were both breathing heavily as they stared at one another. 

“Scylla?” Porter called out again, his footsteps coming closer. 

“Coming!” Said Scylla. She fixed her shirt and fussed at her hair before turning her back on Raelle and stepping out of the shadow of the large column. Raelle hung back, doing her best to keep out of sight.

“There you are!” Porter grinned as Scylla approached him. “I was worried you’d taken off without telling me or Byron.” His hand sought the small of her back, but she pushed it away.

“I’m fine. I just needed some air.” Said Scylla, her tone brisk. She glanced over her shoulder, relieved not to catch sight of the other girl. “Can we go inside?”

Skulking in the dark, Raelle watched the couple go inside and touched her fingers to her lips in disbelief. What the hell just happened? 


	3. Chapter 3

  
Raelle stumbled back in to the party, her mind racing as she scanned the crowd for the girl who’d just kissed her. Who the hell did Scylla think she was? Kissing her like that and then walking off like nothing happened? Raelle spotted the other girl in the grand dining room and made a beeline straight for her.

She came to an abrupt stop as she spotted Porter and Byron nearby. The two boys were setting up a game of beer-pong on the antique dining table, lining up a set of red cups on either side. She caught Scylla’s eye and the other girl paled. 

“Raelle!” Byron looked up and spotted the blonde hanging by the doorway. “Hey, we need one more. Come, be on my team!” He ushered her over, ignoring Raelle’s mumbled objections about needing to find Abigail. Across the other side of the table, Scylla looked as uncomfortable as Raelle felt. 

Porter went first, sinking the ping-pong ball in to one of the cups with ease despite Byron’s trash talking. He grinned smugly as the other boy drank whatever was in the cup. 

It was Byron’s turn next, and he sent the ball harmlessly sailing over the other team’s cup. It bounced off the end of the table, sending Porter chasing after it. 

Scylla went next. She pointedly kept her gaze fixed on the table, ignoring Raelle altogether as she lined up the shot. “Come on, Shortstop!” Byron teased his twin, trying to put her off. It didn’t work. Scylla’s ball bounced effortlessly in to one of their cups and Raelle finally found out what was in them as she was forced to drink. 

She winced at the sickly sweet taste as she swallowed, quickly followed by a fiery burn down her throat. “Ugh, is that Fireball?” 

“Sure is, Hot Stuff!” Byron grinned, nodding at an almost empty bottle of Fireball Whiskey sitting on the side. Raelle pulled a face. She’d thought they were playing with beer. The teen was already buzzed to start with.

She lined up her own shot next and sunk the ball in to the cup by Scylla’s right hand, making the other girl drink. Scylla’s first successful throw turned out to be something of a fluke and Raelle only needed to drink one more shot during the rest of the game. 

Byron landed his last throw, making Porter drink and winning the game for their side. “Ha, suck it, losers!” He laughed at his sister and best friend and swept his smaller team mate up in a hug, lifting Raelle up off her feet. “It’s a win for team gay!” 

Raelle laughed, some of the earlier awkwardness having worn off thanks to the effect of the hard liquor burning its way through her system. Across the table, Scylla pulled a face and excused herself to the bathroom; pressing a kiss to Porter’s cheek before she left.

Raelle staggered as Byron placed her back down. She held on to the edge of the table to keep her balance, watching Scylla push her way through the crowd in the living room to make her way upstairs. 

She turned to make her own excuse to leave, but found Porter and Byron distracted with already setting up for the next game. Raelle slipped away unnoticed by either of them and went after the other girl. 

It was quieter downstairs. Abigail had locked most of the rooms up there to deter horny teens from taking advantage of the many guest rooms. No one was waiting outside the bathroom at the end of the hall thanks to the more popular downstairs bathroom. Raelle was waiting when Scylla opened the door and stepped out. 

Her eyes narrowed on the blonde and she tried to brush past her. Raelle had other ideas. She pushed the other girl back in to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind them. “What the hell was that?” Raelle demanded, her voice a harsh growl. 

Scylla did a good job of hiding her panic as she schooled her features in to a neutral expression and folded her arms across her chest. “You won at pong.” She answered, her tone flippant.

“Not that! I’m talking about you kissing me!” 

“What?” Scoffed Scylla. “You kissed me! And then you dragged me in here like some kind of freak!” 

“You’re the freak! Swanning around like you’re better than everyone!” 

Scylla’s eyes darkened, becoming bottomless pits of hatred as her top lip curled up. “It’s easy to be better than some dumb Jock who takes nothing seriously!” 

The bitter remark was like a red rag to a bull. Raelle’s fists clenched at her sides as she fought the urge to lash out at the other girl. She’d always been a hot head with a temper. It had gotten her in to trouble more than once when she was younger, but it had been years since she’d last got in to a physical fight with anyone. Her hands shook with the effort of keeping them at her sides. 

Scylla noticed. Rather than take a step back - or try to deescalate the situation - the other girl stepped closer, smirking as she got right in Raelle’s face. Raelle could smell the cinnamon whiskey on her breath as she said, “You want to hit me, Collar? Go ahead. I’ll put you on your ass!” 

“A book worm like you? I doubt it.” Scoffed Raelle. 

Scylla took another step forward, so they were almost nose to nose. “Try me…” 

The two girls stared each other down in a silent standoff until something snapped in Raelle. She grabbed the other girl by the shoulders, spun her around and pushed her up against the bathroom door. Raelle crushed her mouth against Scylla’s in a searing kiss, picking up where they left off by the pool.

Scylla grabbed at her, pulling her in closer instead of pushing her away as the kiss deepened. Raelle dipped her head, moving her lips to press open-mouthed kisses to Scylla’s neck. The other girl gasped, arching in to her touch as Raelle’s hand slipped its way in to her pants. 

Raelle was on auto-pilot, her alcohol soaked mind taking a back seat while her body acted on impulse. It didn’t matter that this was Scylla Ramshorn she was kissing; that it was Scylla’s underwear she was shoving her hand in to. 

The other girl groaned as Raelle slipped two fingers inside of her. She was so tight, her walls clenching tightly around Raelle. Raelle didn’t give her any time to adjust as she curled her fingers and began moving them in and out of her at a bruising pace. Her mouth found Scylla’s again, and the slightly shorter girl’s breathy moans were swallowed up. 

Scylla’s hand sought Raelle’s wrist and Raelle’s fingers faltered for a moment, expecting the other girl to demand that she stop. Instead, Scylla took hold of her wrist, urging her on while her other hand tangled itself in Raelle’s hair, tugging painfully at her braids. 

Raelle kept going, fingering Scylla against the bathroom door with no regard for who might hear them on the other side. Scylla’s body tensed beneath her as Raelle brought her thumb to the other girl’s clit, sending her flying over the edge. Scylla tore her mouth away from Raelle’s, burying her face against the blonde’s shoulder as she came with a cry. 

The two of them stood like that for a few moments, neither moving, both panting for breath. Raelle was the first to react, pulling her fingers out of Scylla and her hand out of her pants.

Scylla slumped back against the door and the pair locked eyes, sharing a deer-caught-in-headlights look. Scylla’s eyes were wide and her pupils blown. She teetered unsteadily on her feet. Raelle took two steps back, putting some distance between them as reality came crashing back to them. Without a word, Scylla wrenched open the door and fled. 

Raelle let her go. Locking the door behind her, she turned and slumped against the sink. What the hell just happened? She caught sight of herself in the mirror, her eyeliner smudged, given her unfocused eyes a smoky look. Her hair was a mess from where Scylla had grabbed it. 

She reached up to smooth it down and remembered where her right hand had just been. Her fingers were still soaked in Scylla’s juices. Raelle turned on the hot tap and began washing her hands, rubbing at the skin until it was red raw. What the fuck did she just do? 

Raelle jumped as a knock came at the door. For one hazy moment she yanked it open, expecting to see Scylla standing there looking horrified at her. It was only Tally, though.

Her eyes lit up at the sigh of her best friend. “There you are!” She grinned, moving to throw her arms around the smaller girl. “I need to pee, but I’ll see you downstairs. You haven’t danced with me yet, missy!”

“I’m not feeling great.” Said Raelle. “I think I drank too much. I’m going to call it a night.” 

“What? No, Rae! You can’t go to bed! You need to come dance with me!” 

“I’m really not feeling it.” Raelle pulled away. “I’ll see you in the morning.” She ignored the other girl’s protests as she stumbled her way out of the bathroom and down the hallway. 

Abigail’s room was unlocked, but a large sign stuck to the door warned people not to go in it. The sign wasn’t meant for Raelle. She moved inside, closing the door behind her, and began stripping off. 

Raelle fumbled over the buttons of her skinny jeans and almost tripped as she tugged them down over her ankles. She tossed them aside on the floor, followed by her shirt, and crawled in to the bed Abigail had made up for her earlier. 

The large bay window seat in Abigail’s room doubled as a daybed and was where Raelle always slept when she stayed over. Tally and Abigail would crawl in to Abigail’s queen sized bed hours later, when the last of the party goers finally left.

Raelle lay curled up on her side under the covers, her eyes clenched tightly shut as she fought a wave of nausea that had nothing to do with alcohol. 

Downstairs, Scylla pushed her way through the throng of people lingering at the bottom of the stairs, making her way towards the door. Her mind raced, and the walls felt like they were closing in on her. She had to get out of there. 

“Scyl!” Porter found her ten feet from the front door as she tried to make her escape. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, pressing a kiss to her cheek. His breath stank of stale beer and the same cinnamon whiskey Raelle’s lips had tasted of. “Where have you been?” 

“Bathroom.” She said, pulling away as she turned to face him. She couldn’t look him in the eye, sure that what just happened between her and Raelle was written plain as day across her face. 

“Your brother keeps feeding me shots… He is a terrible influence!” Said Porter, a lopsided smile on his face as he stared at Scylla, his hands on her shoulders. He pulled her in for a crushing hug, the sharp scent of his cologne washing over her. She closed her eyes, trying not to dwell on the taste of cinnamon whiskey. “I love you so much, Scyl.”

“Love you too, Porter.” She briefly hugged him back before making her excuses to leave. “I’m going out for some air. I’ll come find you guys in a bit.” 

“Want me to come with?” He asked, looking concerned.

Scylla shook her head, forcing a smile she didn’t feel. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” He took off to go find Byron and Scylla turned tail and ran. Outside, as the cool hair hit her face, she fumbled with her phone and ordered an Uber; she wanted to put as much distance between her and Raelle Collar as possible.

* * *

Raelle woke with a pounding headache. She rolled over, facing away from the light streaming in through the bay window the daybed sat in front of. Not closing the blinds before falling in to bed had been a rookie mistake, and she was paying for it. She pulled the blanket up over her head with a low groan.

Her mouth was as dry as a desert, and the taste of cinnamon lingered at the back of her throat from the Fireball whiskey. It reminded her of Scylla, which caused another groan to slip from her lips. 

“Shut up!” Abigail growled, right before she sent a throw pillow sailing across the room at Raelle. It bounced harmlessly off the top of her head before dropping to the floor. Raelle crawled out from under the covers, picked it up and tossed it back at her. 

“Hey!” Tally protested as it hit her instead of Abigail. “I didn’t do anything.” 

“Go back to sleep…” Abigail whined, feeling just as hungover as Raelle did. Tally was usually the only one of them that resembled anything close to human the morning after a party, but even she was looking worse for wear as she sat up in Abigail’s bed and rubbed at her bleary eyes. 

“What time is it?” 

“Too early.” Said Abigail, pulling the covers tighter around her as the other girl slipped out of bed. Tally padded out of the room, disappearing for a few minutes before she returned cradling three bottles of mineral water from the fridge downstairs. She handed one to Raelle before climbing back in to bed. 

“Thanks, Tal.” Raelle mumbled groggily. She cracked open the bottle and took a long chug of the ice cold water before letting out a contented sigh and flopping her head back against the pillows. 

Abigail gave up trying to go back to sleep and sat up, taking a sip from the water bottle Tally handed her. “God that’s better than sex.” 

“You must be having some bad sex.” Laughed Raelle.

“At least I’m getting some!” The other girl scoffed. Raelle fell silent, her chest tightening at the thought of what happened last night. “What happened to you last night, anyway? I mean, I know you’re a lightweight, but you didn’t even make it to midnight.” 

“I drank too much. I went to bed to sleep it off.” It wasn’t a complete lie, it just wasn’t the whole truth either. She didn’t dare tell her friends what happened with Scylla. Tally would read too much in to it and Abigail would never let her live it down. 

Raelle told herself it was a stupid drunken mistake. A one off that wouldn’t happen again. With a little luck, Scylla wouldn’t even bring it up.

“Good morning, Sunshine.” Anacostia Quartermaine greeted her adoptive daughter with a knowing smile as Scylla trudged in to the kitchen where Anacostia, Porter and Byron were already gathered around the breakfast table. 

“Want some pancakes?” Anacostia asked, rising from the table to make some for her. Scylla shook her head, her stomach churning at the sight of Porter, who was halfway through a stack of pancakes drowning in maple syrup when he looked up at her with his boyish grin. 

“I’ll pass.” She said, reaching for the cereal box instead. 

“Suit yourself.” Anacostia shrugged and took her seat again, cradling her coffee mug in her hands as she scrutinised the teenage girl skulking around the kitchen. “Is someone hungover this morning?” 

“I don’t know how.” Byron scoffed with his mouth full. 

Anacostia grimaced. “Byron, please swallow.” 

“That’s what-” 

“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence.” Byron’s adoptive mother glared at him with the kind of look she reserved for when he and Scylla were in trouble. He sheepishly let the sentence die on tip of his tongue and went back to teasing his twin. 

“How are you hungover when you left the party so early?” 

“You came home early?” Anacostia frowned at Scylla. 

“Yeah, she didn’t even say goodbye to me or Porter.” Said Byron, digging Scylla in deeper. She tightened her grip on her cereal bowl, resisting the urge to throw it at her brother’s stupid head. 

Porter shrunk in his seat, knowing what was coming as Anacostia rounded on her.

“Scylla, I let the two of you go to parties and drink alcohol because I trust you both to be sensible.” 

“I took an Uber home, and I sent Byron a picture of the licence plate. It’s not my fault he was too drunk to notice.” Scylla defended herself, turning the tables on Byron. 

Anacostia’s deep set frown smoothed out in to a smile. “That’s my girl.” 

“I just thought you were pissed because Raelle and I beat you at beer pong.” Shrugged Byron. Scylla stiffened and paled at the mention of the other girl’s name.

“I’m going back to bed, I don’t feel well.”

“You don’t look good.” Anacostia stood and walked over to Scylla, pressing her hand to the teen’s forehead. “You don’t feel feverish.” 

“It’s probably just the alcohol.” Said Scylla. “I’m going to sleep it off.” She made her escape without another look at her brother or Porter. 

Back in the safety of her room, she crawled under the covers of her bed and tried to ignore the memories of last night that flashed through her mind like a double feature at a drive in cinema. 

Scylla picked up her phone, hoping to distract herself, and started scrolling through her Instagram. It didn’t help. Pictures from the party flashed up all over her homepage. Tally Craven’s latest post caught her eye, and she clicked on it, bringing up a picture of Tally, Abigail and Raelle all in what Scylla assumed was Abigail’s bed.

Tally and Abigail were smiling up at the camera, but Raelle was looking away, a steaming mug of coffee in her hands. Scylla bit down on her lip as her eyes lingered on the slender fingers wrapped around the mug; fingers which had been buried knuckle deep inside of Scylla.

“Fuck.” Scylla groaned and rolled on to her back, her head flopping on to her pillows as she dropped her phone and moved her hand to the waistband of her sleeping shorts. She clenched her eyes shut, imagining the hand belonged to someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who were worrying this might be a slow-burn, it won't 😂 As ever, thanks for reading and for the comments and kudos!


	4. Chapter 4

Raelle was out on a ledge. There was no way back. The only way was down and she knew it. What happened with Scylla on Friday night played out in her mind over and over in a loop; Scylla’s soft lips and sharp gasps as Raelle brought her over the edge were seared in to Raelle’s memory despite her best efforts to forget them. 

She’d spent the rest of her weekend in denial about what happened, packing it away in a neat little box that she could deal with later, but it was Monday morning and she would have to face the other girl soon enough. They had Biology together the class before lunch and Raelle was painfully aware that they’d be sitting side by side at a table. 

“Collar! Shit or get off the pot!” Coach Alder called up from below, shaking Raelle out of her reverie. She realised she was standing on the edge of the diving board, her hands out in position in front of her, ready to jump. She’d spaced out staring at the water below, and Alder didn’t sound happy about it. 

Raelle pulled herself together and did a forward dive with a twist. Her form was sloppy, and she entered the water wrong; her front struck the water flat, knocking the wind out of her. She surfaced moments later, her lungs heaving as she fought to take a breath. 

Standing by Alder next to the bleachers, Glory moved dive in and to help her, but Alder held a hand out to stop her, letting Raelle struggle. She fought the initial shock of hitting the water wrong and swum to the side, pulling herself up out of the pool.

Glory let out the breath she’d been holding once Raelle was safely sitting on the edge, her feet dangling in the water while she sat catching her breath. 

“Collar, what the hell was that!” The older woman bellowed at her, her normally pale cheeks red with anger. “I’ve seen middle-aged men in water-parks do better than that!” 

Raelle dragged herself to her feet and padded over to the bleachers to face her. “Sorry, Coach.” 

“Get your head in the game, Collar. This is your senior year! Shitty dives like that won’t get you All-American again this year, and they certainly won’t impress scouts! You’re only as good as you’re last dive, remember that!” 

“Yes, Coach.” Raelle mumbled, averting the older woman’s hawk like gaze. “It won’t happen again.” 

“See that it doesn’t!” Snapped Alder.

Raelle kicked herself mentally all the way to the dressing room. She had enough going on in her head without making the coach mad at her too. It was all Scylla’s damn fault for kissing her by the pool in the first place. The other girl had a lot to answer for. 

Raelle yanked her locker open, the metal door clanging loudly against the nearest locker and making Glory jump. She gave Raelle a sheepish smile, not commenting on her disaster in the pool. Libba wasn’t quite so genial.

“What happened out there, Collar? You get brain freeze, or just figure you’ll never be as good as me, so what’s the point in trying?” Libba shot her a feral grin from the other side of the locker room. 

Libba’s beef with Abigail extended to Abigail’s friends, though she had a begrudging respect for Raelle as a fellow diver and her teasing was usually harmless. Raelle wasn’t in the mood for it, though. 

“Fuck off, Libba!” She grunted, yanking her towel out of her locker. Her shampoo bottle went bouncing out too, rolling across the tiled floor with a clatter. “Fuck!” Raelle chased after it with a scowl. 

“Are you okay, Raelle?” Glory asked, being a lot more tactful than Libba. 

“I’m fine.” Raelle huffed, snatching her shampoo bottle up from the floor. She stormed off to take a shower before class. She had Alder for English first lesson, and the last thing she needed was to be late.   
  


  
Raelle’s morning went from bad to worse. After her disaster in the pool, Alder only went and sprung a pop quiz on her in English and Raelle hadn’t even done the reading over the weekend; something else that was Scylla’s fault. Her mood was black by the time she walked in to the Biology classroom. 

She was pleasantly surprised to see Scylla’s seat empty. Maybe Scylla hadn’t shown up for school today after all? A rush of relief passed through her as she took her own seat. The knot in her stomach was easing when the first bell rang and Scylla came rushing through the door. 

She took her seat without a single look at Raelle, and somehow that made the blonde all the more mad at her. She hunched forward, leaning her arms on the desk and staring straight ahead with her lips pursed together. 

Beside her, Scylla pulled her things out of her backpack and set them on the table, still without so much as a glance in Raelle’s direction. The tension in the air between the two of them was thick enough to cut with a knife. Raelle’s fist tightened around the pencil she was holding until it threatened to snap.

Izadora took the register and then started the lesson, picking up where they left off on Friday afternoon. They hadn’t covered as much as she wanted, so they weren’t starting the new topic like Izadora had hoped.

Scylla finally gave Raelle a sideways glance, but only when she noticed the other girl actually taking notes. Raelle was doing anything she could to distract herself from Scylla’s proximity and the cloying scent of her perfume; which only served to remind Raelle of the tang of Scylla’s skin as she’d kissed her way down her throat the other night. 

Raelle bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to hurt, her eyes fixed on her notepad as Izadora rambled on about the nervous system.

“Okay, to finish, I’d like you to tackle the questions at the end of this chapter in your textbooks. Discuss the answers in your pairs and work through as many as you can.”

Raelle and Scylla shared a brief, panic filled, look before Scylla opened her book to the page Izadora instructed them to and made a start on the questions without her. She hunched her shoulders, shifting in her seat so she had her back to Raelle. 

That suited Raelle just fine. She opened her own book, propped her chin in her hand and read through the first question. The two girls worked in silence for what was left of the lesson, while the rest of the class chatted freely. 

Raelle tapped the fingers of her left hand against their shared desk while she worked through the problems. Every rap of her clipped nails against the wooden tabletop reverberated through Scylla until Raelle’s damn fingers were all she could focus on; fingers that were buried knuckle deep inside of her only days ago. Scylla fought the urge to grab Raelle’s hand to make the tapping stop. 

A few minutes before the end of the lesson, Izadora asked them all to put their pencils down. “Your homework for this week is to create a presentation summarising what we’ve covered in this topic. This is a group project and I expect you to work in your pairs.” A collective groan rang out among the class. 

“It’s due Monday!” Izadora added, shouting above the noise of the bell and the teens all rushing to pack up. Scylla couldn’t pack her things up quick enough. She all but ran out of the class without so much as a second glance at Raelle. 

Raelle moved at a much slower pace, in no hurry to follow Scylla to the cafeteria; she was considering eating her lunch in the natatorium when Izadora called to her.

“Raelle, can I have a word?” Izadora asked as Raelle fell in behind Tally and Abigail on their way out the classroom. 

“Uh, sure.” Raelle said, even though Izadora’s question had been rhetorical. Tally and Abigail shot her sympathetic glances on their way out. 

Raelle shouldered her backpack and stood leaning against the nearest desk as she waited for whatever it was Izadora had in store for her. 

The older woman pushed her glasses to the top of her head as she folded her arms over her chest and fixed Raelle with a stare. “You and Scylla were supposed to be working together. That was the deal, remember?” 

“Tell that to her!” Raelle huffed defensively, hating that she sounded like a whining five-year-old in front of one of her favourite teachers; yet another thing that was all Scylla’s fault. 

“I will.” Said Izadora. “But that’s not why I kept you back. I spoke to Coach Alder about diving scholarships. She thinks you have a good chance at one. There are other options too, particularly for STEM fields. We can discuss it in your free period on Wednesday and go over your options.”

“Thank you, Professor. Thank you, I… I appreciate it.” Raelle felt like the ton weight that had been resting on chest was lifted; one of them at least. She’d looked at different scholarships and their requirements on her own, and it had felt like she was trying to read Latin blindfolded. 

“You can show me your appreciation by meeting me halfway. Work with Miss Ramshorn on the homework. The two of you are capable of incredible things together, I’m sure.” Raelle bit the inside of her cheek, flashes of the last ‘activity’ they’d done together running through her mind. 

“I’ll try.”   
  
  


Their lunch table was already full by the time Raelle got to the cafeteria. Tally had saved Raelle her usual seat beside her, though. Raelle sat down, her eyes flitting to the other side of the table where Scylla sat with her nose buried in a book. 

“What did Izadora want with you?” Abigail asked before Raelle even pulled her lunch out of her bag. Raelle’s tongue darted out against her lips as she shrugged. 

“She was riding my ass about not working with Scylla.” It wasn’t an outright lie, it just wasn’t the whole truth. Raelle ducked her head and picked at the sandwich her mom had packed for her. She glared at the girl in question. “Like it’s my fault the bookworm thinks she’s too good to work with me!” 

Raelle popped one of her earphones in and propped her chin up with her hand while she ate. She wasn’t in the mood to join in with the conversation around the table. 

“Are you okay, Rae?” Tally asked a short while later, her features schooled in to a look of concern. “You’ve been off since the party.” Tally’s observation of the blonde caught Scylla’s attention, and she peered up from the book she was using as an excuse not to look at the other girl. Raelle caught her looking out of the corner of her eye.

“Hey, Scyl, want half of my muffin?” Porter held the sweet treat under her nose and Scylla recoiled like he’s shoved a live snake in her face. 

“No. Thank you.” She said. 

“Suit yourself, babe.” Porter shrugged and slung one arm over her shoulder while he tucked in to the muffin. Raelle felt something stirring in the pit of her stomach. It wasn’t something she could label, but whatever it was, she didn’t like it. 

She looked away from the happy couple with a sneer and pushed her lunch away from her. “I’m fine, Tally. I’m just not hungry.” Raelle stood up without another word to the others and stalked out of the cafeteria. Her eyes peering out above her book, Scylla watched her go.   
Raelle made her way to the natatorium, deciding it would be safer to hide out by the pool for the rest of lunch period. She popped her earbuds in and lay down on the bottom bleacher. She turned up the volume, letting the music wash over her as she closed her eyes and tried to block the rest of the world out. 

The water was her safe space, the one place she could go to block everything else out; at least it usually was. The door opened with a creak, though it was unheard by Raelle. She only realised she wasn’t alone anymore when a shadow fell over her.

Raelle opened her eyes to find the last person she wanted to see standing over her. Scylla hovered in front of her, awkwardly clutching the strap of her bag and looking like she wanted to be anywhere else.

Raelle popped out her earbuds and pocketed them in the front of her jeans with a heavy sigh. She sat up, her heavy boots hitting off the floor with a thud. “What do you want, Scylla?” Raelle didn’t waste time with pleasantries. It wasn’t like they were friends. 

Scylla didn’t even blink at the venom in her tone. Raelle expected her to launch in to a torrent about what happened Friday night, but - not for the first time - the other girl surprised her. 

“The biology project. We need to arrange a time to get together… to do it… to meet.” A hint of a blush crept over Scylla’s porcelain cheeks as she stumbled over her words. “I have a free period Wednesday and Friday. We can meet in the library.”

“I have training Friday’s free period, and I can’t Wednesday.” Raelle had her meeting with Izadora about scholarship applications then, though she wasn’t about to tell that to Scylla. “I’m busy.” 

Scylla’s expression twisted to look like she was chewing on a lemon as her nostrils flared and she pursed her lips. “Fine. I’ll do the work myself. We can tell Izadora you helped.” 

“I don’t need little-miss-know-it-all doing my work for me, thank you very much.” Raelle snapped. “Despite what you might think, I’m not some brain dead jock! I’ll do my part! We’ll just have to meet after school.” 

“Fine.” Scylla folded her arms over her chest. “When are you not too busy?” She asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm. 

Raelle bit back a snappy retort. She took a breath and counted to five before answering through gritted teeth. “I have diving practise Tuesdays and Thursdays.” 

“I have debate club Wednesday.”

“I guess it’ll have to be Friday then.” Said Raelle, she glanced away, her cheeks warming as she inadvertently thought of the last Friday night they’d spent together. She cleared her throat, her eyes fixed to the tiled floor as she asked, “Does that work for you?” 

“Yeah. Sure.” Neither of them suggested meeting up after school that night. Scylla reached in to her bag and pulled out her notebook and a pen. She scribbled her email address down before holding it out for Raelle. The other girl snatched the paper out of her hand and shoved it in to her front pocket. 

Scylla opened her mouth like she had something else she wanted to say, but quickly snapped it shut as she lost her nerve. She turned her back on Raelle and walked away without another word. Raelle let out a sigh of relief and flopped back down on the bleacher — and then she realised she’d agreed to spend time with Scylla, alone, on Friday afternoon. “Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As ever, thanks for reading folks!


	5. Chapter 5

Friday afternoon came around all too soon for Raelle. She sat in her last period of the day staring at the clock on the wall as it inched ever closer to 3 o’clock. Her calculus teacher droned on at the front of the class, but Raelle hadn’t taken in a single word the man had said for the last for the last forty-five minutes. 

Raelle tapped her pencil against the side of her desk, her eyes glued to the clock. She had ten minutes before she was supposed to meet Scylla in the school library. They’d exchanged an email agreeing when and where to meet, but other than that they hadn’t spoken since Monday. 

Raelle had hoped they could forget about what happened, that they could move on and ignore that it ever happened, but it wasn’t so simple. Doubt was growing in Raelle’s mind, festering away inside of her and spreading like a cancer. 

Raelle had reached the point where she couldn’t ignore what happened between them anymore; she needed to talk to Scylla about it. 

They’d both been drunk, but that didn’t stop the gnawing guilt that Raelle felt in the pit of her stomach when she thought about pushing Scylla up against the bathroom door and sticking her hand down her pants. 

Raelle was going out of her mind thinking about it. She was worried she’d taken advantage of her, and that was why Scylla hadn’t confronted her about any of it. 

The bell sounded, shaking Raelle out of her thoughts. She said goodbye to Tally and Abigail on her way out of the classroom. They both had cheer practice, so they took off in the opposite direction, leaving Raelle to trudge along to her locker alone. 

Scylla was already there, shoving her textbooks inside her locker. She caught sight of Raelle and slammed it shut, the hint of a frown playing on her brow. Raelle’s stomach lurched. She ducked her head and walked up to her own locker. 

“You still okay for working on the project?” Raelle asked, her eyes staring straight ahead. 

“Yes.” Scylla answered curtly, and that was the full extent of the conversation as they made their way to the library. Given that it was a Friday afternoon, most of the tables were empty. Scylla chose one near the back. 

The two of them sat down and Scylla pulled her biology notes out of her bag, while Raelle sat twiddling her thumbs. Scylla’s frown finally broke through. “Do you have any notes at all?” 

“Nope.” Raelle popped the ‘p’ at the end. She swung back in her chair, ignoring the menacing glare the librarian sent her way. “I told you, I don’t need ‘em.” 

Raelle was right, she didn’t need any notes to remember what they’d covered, and that only infuriated Scylla more as they worked through their project. Raelle was a slacker, but she was also one of those people who didn’t need to study to pass a test. It wasn’t fair.

“Uh, Scylla?” Raelle rubbed at her neck after they’d been working for close to an hour. She chewed on her lip, trying to come up with the right way to ask whether she’d taken advantage of her the other night. “About the other night-”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Scylla said without lifting her eyes from her notes. Her tone left little room to argue with her, so Raelle let it drop like she asked. 

Not long after that Byron and Porter turned up at the library looking for Scylla. They were both dressed in their lacrosse uniforms and carrying their kit bags over their shoulders. Porter’s blonde curls were stuck to his head with sweat and he wore a huge grin as his eyes landed on Scylla. 

“Hey, babe.” He greeted Scylla. Leaning over her the back of her chair, he pressed a kiss to Scylla’s cheek. 

“Porter, you’re all gross!” She snapped, pushing him away. 

“We’re here to pick you up. Let’s go. I want to get home and shower.” Said Byron, moving to pick up Scylla’s bag from the floor. 

“You could always shower at school!” Scylla snatched her bag from his hands. “And we’re not finished yet.”

“Well, Porter’s not coming back for your ass later. We have plans. So move your butt, you can finish this at home. Raelle can come too, right Raelle?” 

“Uh…” Raelle stared up at Byron with something close to panic in her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to go to Scylla’s house with her. “Actually, I-”

“Great. We’ll order pizza.” Said Byron, completely ignoring Raelle and Scylla’s protests. “Porter, fetch.” 

Scylla glared daggers at her boyfriend. “Porter, don’t you dare-” Scylla didn’t get time to finish her threat as Porter scooped her up, throwing her over his shoulder like a fireman. Scylla yelped.

“Put me down you freak!” Scylla slapped at his back but it was more playful than violent. Raelle glanced away from the couple and packed up her stuff while Byron saw to Scylla’s things.

He slung her bag over his other shoulder and followed Porter as he carried Scylla out of the library. Raelle trailed after them; the thought of her promise to Izadora was the only thing that kept her following Porter and the twins out to the parking lot. 

Porter placed Scylla down once they reached his car. He pulled his car keys out of his pocket and handed Byron his kit-bag to throw in the trunk with his. 

Scylla climbed in to the front passenger seat while Byron was distracted. He spotted her up front and cursed at her. “I called shotgun, Scyl!” 

“It’s my boyfriend’s car, By.” She shot him a smirk, but might as well have just flipped him off. Byron glared at his sister as he climbed in to the back with Raelle.

Scylla glanced in the rear-view mirror and caught Raelle’s gaze; she quickly looked away, her cheeks burning up. She reached out for Porter, running her fingers through the back of his hair where it was starting to curl like on top. “Babe, your hair is getting too long, you need a cut.” 

“It just gives you something to hold on to.” Porter winked at her. 

In the back, Byron rolled his eyes. Turning to Raelle, he brought his fingers up to his mouth and made a gagging motion. Raelle bit back a grin. She liked Byron. Unlike Scylla, he wasn’t up his own ass. 

Porter pulled up outside a nondescript two-storey house with a neat front yard. It looked the same as the houses either side of it, except for the hanging baskets full of flowers either side of the door and the wooden swing on the front porch. 

Porter lived directly across the street. He pressed a kiss to Scylla’s cheek and promised to be over later, after dinner with his family. He waited until the others climbed out before pulling in to his drive. 

Raelle followed the twins in to their house. It was nice inside. Homely. There were pictures of the twins and their adoptive mother all over. Byron’s lacrosse trophies were lined up on a shelf in the living room, and Raelle spotted a bunch of certificates and ribbons belonging to Scylla in the hall. 

Raelle hovered by the front door, feeling like a spare part while Scylla hung her coat up and Byron disappeared in to the kitchen. “Scyl, Momma Costia left us money for pizza. Raelle, are you staying for dinner?” 

“Uh, no.” Raelle called back to him. “No, thanks.” She wanted to finish the work and get out of there as fast as was humanly possible. 

Scylla headed for the stairs. She was halfway up them when she realised Raelle wasn’t following her. She turned and stopped. “Are you coming or what?” She snapped at the other girl. Raelle clenched her teeth, biting back a scathing comment, and followed her up.

Scylla’s room was pristine, with not a single thing out of place. It was a far cry from Raelle’s own room, which had laundry strewn about the floor and books and papers piled up on her desk. 

The room wasn’t overly girly. The walls were a pale yellow and there were a handful of stuffed animals sitting on a shelf over Scylla’s bed. There were more pictures of the twins in here, and pictures with Porter in them too.

Raelle’s eyes lingered on a framed photograph of the three of them that had to have been taken back in the first grade. They’d been friends for a long time. Raelle wondered when that friendship between Scylla and Porter had changed in to something else — and how Byron had handled his sister and his best friend hooking up.

Scylla set up at her desk, pulling out what they’d already done in the library from her bag. She pushed the chair towards Raelle before dragging the laundry hamper over and using it as a seat.

Scylla’s desk was smaller than the table they’d sat at opposite ends of in the library, and Raelle found herself far too close to the other girl for comfort. They’d barely started, picking up where they left off in the library, when their arms brushed and Scylla reared back like she’d been stung. 

“What the hell?” She snapped. 

“What? I didn’t do anything!” Raelle stood up so fast she almost knocked the chair over. 

“You touched my arm!” 

“You knocked in to my arm first!” 

“No, I didn’t!” 

“What, like you didn’t kiss me first the other night?” Raelle shouted, regretting the words the instant they left her mouth. Scylla’s eyes widened in disbelief. 

“You kissed me!” She said, standing up to stare Raelle down. 

“Like hell I did! You kissed me!” Raelle took a step forward and then remember what that had led to last time. She took two hasty steps back and shook her head. “Whatever, I’m done.” Raelle snatched her bag up from the floor.

She stalked towards the door, but Scylla beat her to it. The other girl grabbed her wrist as she reached for the doorknob. “We haven’t finished, and I’m not failing this class because of you!” 

“Get off me!” Raelle yanked her arm back with a snarl. “If you’re so smart, you can finish it by yourself!” 

“Fine!” Snapped Scylla.

“Fine!” Raelle growled in the other girl’s face and something snapped. One moment they were glaring at each other, chests heaving with anger, and then next Raelle had Scylla pushed up against the door - her hands pinned above her shoulders by her wrists - and they were kissing. 

Scylla’s mouth was hot and insistent as her tongue slipped past Raelle’s parted lips, just like it had last Friday night. She ground their hips together in a way that made Raelle gasp. 

She let go of one of Scylla’s wrists, her hand finding the other girl’s hip. Scylla reached down, guiding Raelle’s hand to where she wanted it. Raelle got the message, she popped open the top button of Scylla’s jeans and shoved her hand in to her pants. 

Scylla was already wet as Raelle’s fingers slid over her folds. “Fuck.” She gasped in to the other girl’s mouth as Raelle’s thumb found her clit. 

Scylla threw her head back against the door, arching in to Raelle’s touch as she slipped two fingers inside of her. Raelle’s lips found the pulse point in Scylla’s neck. She nipped and sucked at it while her fingers worked inside of Scylla, drawing her closer and closer to the edge. 

Scylla let out ragged gasps and moans as her hips moved to meet Raelle’s fingers. With Raelle still pinning one of her hands above her head, she reached out with the other, burying her fingers in Raelle’s platinum locks and tugging on her braids. Then Raelle’s thumb flicked over her clit again and Scylla saw stars. She buried her face in Raelle’s shoulder to keep from crying out as she came.

Scylla stayed right where she was as little aftershocks rocked her body. Raelle waited until Scylla stopped rocking her hips to pull her fingers out and they both stood there, breathless and staring at each other, unsure of what would come next. 

Scylla decided for them. She shoved Raelle, sending her stumbling back. Raelle’s eyes widened as if coming out of some kind of daze. She threw her hands up, “Scylla, I-” 

“Shut up.” Scylla pushed her again, knocking Raelle on her ass on Scylla’s bed. She climbed on top of the other girl before Raelle could get another word out and crushed their mouths together again. 

Raelle melted in to the kiss, her body sinking in to the mattress as Scylla settled herself on top of her. Scylla slipped a hand between their tightly pressed bodies, deftly unbuckled Raelle’s belt and slipped her hand in to her pants.

Raelle hadn’t been with anyone since last summer, when she’d hooked up with a girl from the Cession while she’d been visiting her grandparents. It hadn’t meant much.

The girl had been pretty, and she’d laughed at Raelle’s jokes. She’d also been great in bed; but that had been months ago and Raelle didn’t realise how tight she was until Scylla slipped a single digit inside of her and she clenched down around it. 

She gasped in to Scylla’s mouth, her fingers digging in to the other girl’s shoulders as Scylla added a second finger, stretching her out. “Fuck…” Raelle cursed, her hips canting up as Scylla began moving her fingers in and out of her, curling them when they were inside.

Raelle might have been embarrassed by her needy moans had she not been so close to coming. It didn’t take long once Scylla picked up the pace; Raelle came undone painfully quick. 

She shuddered as Scylla pulled out of her and they locked eyes. The same thick tension that had hung between them all week was back, but it was a different type of tension, and almost palpable. 

Scylla was still straddling her, their faces only inches apart. Raelle’s gaze dipped to her mouth. She really wanted to kiss the other girl again. There was a lot she wanted to do to Scylla Ramshorn. Raelle had never been great at impulse control, so she sat up and kissed her. Their lips barely met again when Byron called up from downstairs. 

“Scyl, pizza is here!” 

“Coming!” Scylla shouted, and a deep blush spread over her cheeks as she scrambled off the bed. She walked in to the ensuite, closing the door behind her. 

Raelle flopped back on the bed with a sigh. She covered her face with her hands and groaned in to them. What the hell was she thinking? She’d screwed Scylla - a girl she couldn’t stand - twice now. Twice! 

Raelle sat up and buckled her belt as Scylla came back out of the bathroom. She’d tied her hair back and washed her hands and face. Her cheeks were flushed red. She didn’t say a word to Raelle as she headed for the door. She couldn’t even look at her. 

Raelle scooped up her backpack from the floor by Scylla’s desk and followed her out. Downstairs they found Porter standing in the kitchen holding a stack of pizza boxes.

“Hey, Babe.” He greeted Scylla with a kiss to her cheek and Raelle’s stomach lurched. She’d forgotten all about Scylla’s boyfriend. Suddenly faced with Porter in the flesh, Raelle’s guilt felt like it might swallow her whole.

“I thought you were having dinner at home?” Said Scylla, steadfastly ignoring Raelle altogether. 

“I did. Byron text me and asked me to go for pizza.” Porter explained, helping himself to a slice from the top box on the stack. 

“You just ate!” Scylla rolled her eyes. 

“I’m a growing boy!” Porter grinned at her with a mouthful of pizza. “I need to eat!” 

“Hmm.” Said Scylla. 

Across the other side of the kitchen, Byron pulled out four plates from one of the cupboards. “Raelle, you’re staying, right?” He asked, although she’d already said she wasn’t. 

“I should let you guys eat.” She said, shifting from one foot to another and fiddling with the strap of her backpack. She and Scylla hadn’t finished their project yet, but Raelle was past caring; she’d take the fail.

“Don’t be silly, there’s plenty for everyone.” He insisted, shepherding the blonde towards the dining room. Scylla trailed after them with an expression that made her look like she was chewing a wasp. Porter brought up the rear and the pizzas. 

Raelle sat at the dining room table with the other three teens, wishing she could be anywhere else at all. She picked idly at the toppings on her pizza, in a world of her own. Raelle was still trying to process what happened upstairs. She might have convinced herself nothing actually happened had it not been for the telltale stickiness between her legs. 

Scylla sat across the table from the blonde, her eyes glued to her plate. Byron and Porter did all the talking, and most of the eating, while the two girls sulked in silence. 

“Are you two finished your project?” Byron asked, trying to include them in the conversation.

“Not yet-”

“Yes.” Raelle answered firmly, talking over Scylla. Their eyes met briefly before Scylla ducked her head. “We’re all done. Thanks for the food, but I should get going.” Raelle stood up from the table, ignoring her half-eaten pizza slice. 

“Are you sure?” Asked Porter. “We’re having movie night if you want to stay?” He smiled at Raelle, trying to be nice. He had no idea what Raelle had just done with his girlfriend; what she’d done to her.

“Thanks, but my Mom is expecting me.” Said Raelle. She shook her head as Scylla went to stand. “I can see myself out. See you guys on Monday.” Raelle didn’t wait around long enough for Scylla to object. She got out of that house as fast as she could without actually breaking in to a run. 

  
Her house was empty when Raelle got home. Her Mom was working night shift again and her dad would be playing poker with his buddies for most of the night. Raelle was grateful for the peace and quiet as she slung her bag on to her bedroom floor and kicked off her tennis shoes. 

Padding barefoot in to the bathroom, she peeled off her clothes and dropped them in to the laundry hamper by the door. She turned on the shower and stepped under the water once it was hot enough. 

Raelle took a washcloth and used it to clean between her legs, getting rid of the uncomfortable stickiness that had settled there. Under the hot spray of the shower, Raelle’s thoughts soon drifted back to earlier with Scylla, the weight of the other girl’s body on top of her, her fingers buried deep within Raelle. 

Raelle dropped the cloth, her own fingers slipping inside of herself. It was messed up, getting herself off to the memory of Scylla inside of her, but Raelle couldn’t stop herself. She came for the second time that night, her head pressed up against the cool tiled wall, her hips shuddering and her breaths coming in short, sharp rasps.

Shame flooded over her the second she pulled her fingers out of herself. She turned and slumped back against the shower cubicle, holding her head in her hands. What was she doing? She couldn’t stand Scylla, so what was she doing getting off thinking about her?

Raelle cleaned herself up for a second time before shutting the water off and stepping out of the shower. She wrapped a fluffy towel around herself, padded back to her room and threw herself on her bed with a sigh. 

Biting her lip, she picked up her phone and typed up a quick text to Glory, asking for Scylla’s number. She made up a story about needing to get in touch with Scylla about their Biology project and Glory was only too happy to help. 

Raelle saved Scylla’s number to her contacts and sat staring at it for the longest time before she swallowed her pride and sent her a message saying they needed to talk. She jumped when her phone pinged a few moments later, a new message from Scylla flashing up on the screen. Her finger shook as she reached out to tap it open.  
  
 **Scylla: Can’t right now. Talk when Porter is gone.**  
  
Raelle tossed her phone aside with a huff and buried her face in her pillow with a groan. God damn Scylla Ramshorn! She thought the whole world revolved around her. Raelle hated Scylla — So why couldn’t she stop thinking about her? She let out another groan.

It was hours later before Raelle’s phone went off again. It was Scylla asking if she was free to talk. Raelle replied with a simple yes. She almost jumped out of her skin when her phone rang and Scylla’s name appeared on the screen. Raelle hadn’t thought Scylla meant actually talking. She wasn’t prepared for that. 

Raelle let it ring and ring until her phone finally sent it to voice-mail and Scylla hung up. She called again straight away. Raelle answered this time. 

“What happened back there?” She said, wasting no time with saying hello. She heard Scylla take a sharp breath on the other end of the line. 

“I can’t talk, Porter is still here.” 

“What? What was the point in you even calling?” Raelle demanded, her irritation reaching boiling point. 

“He’ll be here all night.” Said Scylla, ignoring Raelle’s question altogether. “Can we talk tomorrow? In person?” 

Raelle bit back a curse. She rolled on to her back with the phone pressed to her ear as she considered it. “Yeah. Sure. When and where?” 

It was Scylla’s turn to fall silent for a moment. Raelle almost thought she’d hung up until she finally replied with, “Porter and Byron will be playing video games at our house all day. Can we meet at yours?” 

The question sent an unexpected image of Scylla lying beneath her in her bed, flashing through Raelle’s mind. She clenched her eyes shut and bit the inside of her cheek as she nodded — and then remembered Scylla couldn’t see her. “Fine. I’ll text you the address. Come by any time after one.” 

“Okay… See you then.” Said Scylla. 

Raelle hung up with a grunt and threw her arm over her face. What the hell had she just agreed to?


	6. Chapter 6

Scylla pulled up in Porter’s car outside the address Raelle had given her the night before. Porter had spent the night like Scylla expected, and he and Byron were camped out in the living room playing Xbox like they did most Saturdays. 

Scylla had told them she and Raelle had missed something off their project, and she needed to go by to finish it. Neither boy had questioned her, and Porter had been all too happy to give her his car keys rather than have to drive her over there. 

Scylla glanced at her reflection in the rear-view mirror and fussed over her hair. She’d worn it down, and it hung in loose curls thanks to the braid she’d put it in the night before after her shower. 

Scylla was ready to go when her phone pinged. She looked at it expecting a snotty message from Raelle about being late; it was already well after one o’clock, but it was a text from Byron instead — telling her to play nice with Raelle. Scylla rolled her eyes and pocketed her phone in her jeans. 

She climbed out of the car and used the key fob to lock it behind her before trudging up the Collar family’s driveway. Scylla wasn’t sure what to expect when she knocked at the front door. She didn’t know all that much about Raelle, never-mind her family life. 

Someone came to the door after a few moments. It was an older blonde woman with kind eyes and a warm smile. There was no doubting she was Raelle’s mother. “Hello, can I help you?” She asked, her southern, Cession drawl much more pronounced than Raelle’s. 

“Hi, I’m here to see Raelle.” 

“Oh, well, come right on in then.” Willa Collar didn’t recognise her as one of Raelle’s usual friends, but the older woman ushered the teenager inside, anyway. “I’m Willa, Raelle’s momma. 

“I’m Scylla.” She introduced herself with a genuine smile. Unlike her daughter, Willa was easy to like and get along with. Scylla wondered where Raelle got her surliness from. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Scylla. Are you a new friend of Raelle’s?” Willa asked, the same piercing blue eyes she shared with her daughter fixed on Scylla. 

“Um-” 

“Was that the door?” Raelle appeared at the top of the stairs, interrupting her mother’s friendly interrogation of the other girl. She was wearing sweatpants and another sleeveless shirt despite it being early Fall. Scylla wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Raelle wearing sleeves. 

The blonde’s eyes widened as they landed on Scylla, standing in her house, and she rushed to the bottom of the stairs to rescue the other girl from her mom. She knew all too well how her mother could get around new girls in her life. 

“Scylla, hey. Mom, this is Scylla. We’re working on a school project together!” Raelle tugged on Scylla’s sleeve, beckoning her to follow her upstairs.   
“Okay, hon. Do you girls need anything? Something to drink, some snacks?”

“We’re good, Momma! Raelle called over her shoulder, practically dragging Scylla up the stairs away from her. 

She led Scylla to her room and closed the door behind them, hoping her mom wouldn’t come up and try to play twenty questions with her guest. 

Scylla took in Raelle’s room as she crossed to perch on the edge of her bed. The walls, what Scylla could see of them, were blue and covered in posters. The furniture was mismatched, and the room was pure organised chaos, with trinkets and possessions cluttering the shelves. Raelle’s desk was overflowing with books and papers. Scylla didn’t know how she could work at it. 

Raelle watched Scylla’s keen eyes take in her surroundings. She’d spent the morning tidying up, picking up dirty clothes from the floor and shoving things out of sight under her bed and in her closet. She felt like her room was being appraised and judged by the other girl, whose own room had been pristine. 

Raelle bit the inside of her cheek and shoved her hands in to the pockets of her sweatpants as she leaned back against her bedroom door; then she remembered pushing Scylla up against her own bedroom door and took a step away from it. 

Raelle cleared her throat, catching Scylla’s attention as she scrutinised the photos of Raelle and her friends pinned to the cork-board above her desk. “So, I know what you’re going to say.” Scylla cocked her head to the side, staring at her expectantly, and Raelle’s lips felt dry. The other girl had a way of staring right through her. 

Raelle pressed on. Scylla had come here to talk after all. “What happened yesterday was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened and it can’t happen again.” 

Scylla leaned back on her elbows on Raelle’s bed like she’d been there a million times before. “Actually, that’s the complete opposite of what I was going to say.” She said, catching Raelle off guard. 

“Huh?” Raelle gawked at her, her mouth hanging open like a character in a cartoon. “But… but you have a boyfriend, and we… we don’t… We’re not friends, Scylla!”

“I don’t want to be your friend, Raelle.” Scylla shrugged, her eyes still boring in to Raelle’s. “Porter is sweet, and loving, and kind, but he can’t get me off; and he sure as hell would never screw me up against a door.” 

Raelle rubbed at the back of her neck as she took another conscious step away from her bedroom door. None of this was making any sense. She’d spent the better part of the last week worried that she’d taken advantage of the other girl, crossed some invisible line when they’d both been drunk. She said as much to Scylla. 

Scylla chuckled mirthlessly. “You were more drunk than I was, Raelle. You didn’t take advantage of me… and I enjoyed it.” She admitted with a coy bite of her lip and Raelle was sure it had to be opposites day or something.

Either that, or she was in a coma and this was all some crazy head trauma induced dream. Maybe she did fall in to Abigail’s pool and crack her head open the other night, because nothing had made much sense since then. Raelle’s confusion must have shown on her face. 

Scylla gave a sigh. “I love Porter, I do, but he can’t give me what I need.”

“But I can?” Raelle asked in disbelief. 

Scylla shifted, so she was leaning forward in Raelle’s bed. She looked down at the floor as she wrung her hands together. “As much as it pains me to admit it, yes.” 

“But… Porter-” 

“Is my problem.” Scylla cut her off. 

Raelle licked at her dry lips as she took an unconscious step towards the other girl. “What are you suggesting, some kind of friends with benefits thing?” 

“Exactly.” Scylla cocked her head to the side, trying to appear more confident than she actually felt. “So what do you think?”

“I think we’re not friends, Scylla!” Raelle scoffed, a nervous laugh slipping past her lips. “We don’t even like each other!”

“Fine.” Scylla’s eyes darkened as she stood up, her lips pressed in to a tight line. “Forget it.” She stalked towards the door, intending to storm out, but Raelle caught hold of her wrist.

“Wait…”

Raelle held on to the other girl’s wrist, her thumb tracing the inside of it while she bit down on her own lip, her eyes glued to Scylla’s — searching them for any sign that this was all some big joke, that Scylla was going to laugh at her the moment she said yes. 

Raelle was wary, but she couldn’t deny her attraction to the other girl. Scylla might have been an insufferable know-it-all, but she was undeniably beautiful, and they’d already proved they were compatible sexually. 

“Fine.” Said Raelle. “Sex. No strings attached… but nobody finds out.” 

“Who am I going to tell?” Scylla rolled her eyes. “My brother, or his best-friend, Porter?” Raelle dropped the other girl’s wrist with a scowl. Pretty or not, she was still insufferable. 

“This doesn’t mean I like you.” Raelle grumbled. 

“I don’t like you either.” Scylla shrugged. “It’s just sex. Filling a need, that’s all.” She sat back on Raelle’s bed, making herself at home. 

“Okay, so how are we going to do this? Do we text each other when we want to hook up, or set a regular time?” Raelle was out of her depth. She’d done casual hookups before, but nothing like this. 

Scylla wasn’t any more experienced, but she’d spent all of last night thinking about this; about how it might work and how to keep it just between the two of them. “We do whatever works for both of us.” She shrugged, and then her expression turned coy as she shuffled back on Raelle’s bed. “Does doing it while your parents are at home work for you?” 

Raelle’s insides twisted as she felt a flutter in her stomach at the suggestion, and her eyes involuntarily darted to Scylla’s full lips. Her hands ached to touch the other girl, to take the time to explore her body fully. 

Their previous encounters had been all too brief for Raelle’s liking. The thought of having Scylla here, in her room, and neither of them running straight off after was an intoxicating one. Raelle didn’t even care that her parents were downstairs. She walked over to her door and flicked the lock shut.

“That depends.” She said, some of her usual cockiness returning now that she knew where they stood. “Do you think you can keep quiet?” 

Scylla broke out in a smirk, her eyes lighting up with a playful mischievousness that Raelle had never seen on her as she reached up and tugged her shirt over her head, letting it drop on the floor. “I don’t know, do you think you can make me?” 

Raelle’s breath caught in the back of her throat as she stared at the newly exposed flesh and took in Scylla’s generous curves. Her mouth watered and her fingers twitched at her side. Raelle couldn’t deny it; she liked this newfound side of Scylla Ramshorn. 

Raelle crossed the room in a few quick steps and cupped Scylla’s cheeks in her hands before crushing their mouths together. She climbed on to the bed, straddling Scylla’s hips and pushing her on to her back.

Scylla let out a surprised oomph, her eyes widening before they closed over and her hands found the hem of Raelle’s shirt. They slipped under the fabric, running along Raelle’s ribs and round to her back, pulling her in closer. 

Raelle’s mouth moved to kiss a trail down Scylla’s neck, her teeth nipping playfully at the skin there. Scylla mewled underneath her, her hips bucking up against Raelle’s. Raelle slipped her knee between the other girl’s legs, giving her exactly what she wanted as nimble fingers slipped around behind Scylla and unhooked her bra. 

Scylla pushed the straps down from her shoulders and Raelle tossed the bra aside like it had offended her. She dipped her head, taking one of Scylla’s newly exposed nipples in to her mouth. She teased the other nipple in to a hard nub, alternating between rolling it between her fingers and pinching it. 

Scylla was a lot more vocal than last time. She writhed under Raelle’s ministrations, gasping and moaning at how good the other girl’s mouth felt on her skin. She pulled at Raelle’s hair, tangling her fingers in it and urging her to keep going. 

Scylla groaned as Raelle’s mouth abandoned her breasts, but her disappointment didn’t last long as Raelle shifted to tug her pants down, bringing them and her underwear down in one go. Scylla kicked both off from around her ankles and sat up to kiss Raelle again, reaching for her hand to bring it between her thighs.

Raelle kissed her back, but she pulled her hand free from Scylla’s grasp; she had other plans in mind. Raelle had spent all night fantasising what Scylla might taste like, and she wasn’t about to waste another minute before finding out. She bit down on Scylla’s lip before pushing her back down.

Scylla lay on her back staring up at the other girl, her eyes wide and her pupils blown. Her cheeks were flushed and her pulse was in her throat as she watched Raelle move down her body to press a kiss to her stomach. She tensed, clenching her legs together.

Raelle sensed the other girl’s unease and slowed down, pressing lingering kisses to her stomach and grazing her teeth over Scylla’s hip bone. Scylla’s legs turned to jelly as her muscles relaxed and she eased her thighs apart to give Raelle access to where she really wanted to put her mouth. 

Scylla bit her lip and threw back her head to save herself the embarrassment of looking at Raelle as the other girl dipped her eyes and took in the slick wetness that already coated the insides of her thighs. She was so turned on it was shameful, and Raelle had barely even touched her yet. 

Raelle took a sharp intake of breath as her eager mouth hovered over Scylla’s mound. Her scent was intoxicating, and Raelle forgot all about her dislike for the other girl as she dipped her mouth and ran her tongue through Scylla’s slick folds. Scylla murmured something unintelligible, both hands tangling in Raelle’s hair and pushing her mouth closer. 

Raelle obliged her, burying her nose and mouth in Scylla’s folds and licking at her entrance with her tongue. Scylla gasped, arching her hips up to meet the confident strokes of Raelle’s tongue. It felt incredible. 

She struggled not to cry out too loudly as Raelle’s tongue circled her entrance before slipping inside of her. One of her hands left Raelle’s hair as she reached above her head and grasped at a pillow before pulling it over her face to stifle her moans. 

She was already so close, so when Raelle moved her mouth to lick and suck at Scylla’s swollen and throbbing clit, it sent her teetering over the edge. Her body stiffened, and she cried out in to the pillow as she came, her walls clenching down on nothing. 

Raelle kept going, milking Scylla’s orgasm for all it was worth until the other girl pushed her head away and clenched her legs shut. Raelle rolled on to her back beside Scylla, her chest heaving just like Scylla’s. 

The blonde let out a breezy laugh as she ran her tongue over her lips and tasted Scylla there. Raelle was a giver and always had been. Giving pleasure to someone else was just as good as receiving it herself. 

Beside her, Scylla hummed her appreciation. “Fuck, you’re good at that.” She gasped. Her body felt like a lead weight, but her mind was floating. Raelle turned on to her side, propping her head up on her elbow with a smug grin.

“There are a lot of things I’m good at.”

* * *

  
It was dark when Scylla arrived back home. She’d spent the whole afternoon at Raelle’s place. Scylla had been hesitant about suggesting her plan to the other girl, but by the time she walked through her front door that night she was thoroughly pleased she did.

“Hey, Scyl.” Anacostia greeted her as she walked in to the kitchen. Her adoptive mother was dressed in civilian clothes for a change and busy seeing to dinner. “Did you get everything you needed done at Collar’s house?” 

Scylla ducked her head as she felt a blush spread over her cheeks. “Yeah. We finished the project.” She said, busying herself with getting a can of soda from the fridge to hide her embarrassment. 

“Is Porter still here?” She asked, noticing Anacostia had set four plates on the counter. 

“Yeah, he and Byron are upstairs. Can you let them know dinner will be ready in ten?”

“Sure.” Said Scylla. She slipped out of the kitchen with her soda and headed upstairs. She went straight to her room first and in to the en-suite that connected her and Byron’s rooms. 

Scylla set the shower running. She’d come more times than she could count today, and her sticky thighs bore the evidence of it. She needed to wash up if she was going to make it through dinner with her family.

She let the water run to warm up while she went to tell Byron and Porter dinner wouldn’t be long. “Byron, dinner-” Scylla trailed off at the sight before her. Porter, shirtless and on top of her twin brother. The two of them were lying in Byron’s bed, making out in much the same way as Scylla and Raelle had been doing not so long ago. 

“Byron, what the fuck!” She snapped at her brother, making both boys jump. Porter rolled to the side, grabbing at his shirt and pulling it over his head with a self-conscious smile. 

“Hey, Scyl.” 

Byron wasn’t so genial. He scowled at his twin, pissed at her untimely interruption. “Ever heard of knocking?” 

“Lock your door if you’re doing that shit!” 

“I did!” Byron gestured at his bedroom door. 

“Then lock both, dumb-ass! Jeez!” Scylla shook her head at the two boys. She loved them more than life itself, but five minutes later and she would have walked in on a lot more. She didn’t need to see her twin brother and her childhood best friend doing _that_. 

“Did you get your project finished?” Porter asked, trying to stop a row from breaking out between the twins. He’d been playing peacemaker between the two of them for as long as he could remember. 

“Is she still alive?” Byron smirked. 

“She’s peachy.” Scylla huffed as she perched herself on Byron’s desk. 

“She’s cute.” Grinned Porter.

Scylla rolled her eyes at the pair of them. She’d like to think she wasn’t so see through, but Porter was like a brother to her, a third twin who could read Scylla and her moods as easily as Byron could. 

“She’s an annoying jock.” Scylla huffed. “Just like you.” 

Byron threw a protective arm around the other boy. “Hey! Porter is perfect.” He pressed a kiss to Porter’s cheek, something he couldn’t do outside their house. 

“You guys are so cringe.”

“You’re just jealous.” Byron poked his tongue out at her like they were still five. 

“I’m really not.” Said Scylla, letting out a heavy sigh. “I pretend to be his girlfriend all week, that’s more than enough for me.”

Byron’s expression softened, his annoyance fading. He reached for Porter’s hand and squeezed it tight. “We appreciate what you do for us, Scyl. We really do.” 

“Yeah, my parents would kill me if they knew I was gay.” Said Porter, his chin tucked to his chest and his eyes glassy and fixed on his and Byron’s joined hands. 

“I’d do anything for you, Porter. You’re family.” Said Scylla, and she meant it. 

“You deserve to be happy too, Scyl.” 

“I think I could do better than Raelle Collar. Thanks.” Scylla shot her brother a fake smile. “Besides, we graduate this year. I can worry about me when we’re all in college, and you and Porter can go on double dates with me.” 

“Who said anything about dating?” Byron scoffed. “What you need is a good fuck! You need to unwind, Sis.” 

Scylla bit the inside of her cheek and tried to ignore the stickiness between her thighs. Byron had cut a little close to the bone there. Scylla dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “Whatever. Costia wanted me to tell you guys dinner will be ready soon. I’m going to grab a shower beforehand.” 

“Didn’t you go in this morning?” Asked Byron. 

“What are you? The shower police?” Scylla stalked out of the room, slamming the bathroom door behind her. The lock snapped in to place with a click. 

“What’s up with her?” Porter frowned.

Byron lay back down with a shake of his head, pulling Porter along with him with an exaggerated sigh. “Like I said, she needs to get laid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right folks, Scylla and Porter are fake dating -- because this fic doesn't have enough tropes already 😅 As ever, thanks for reading and for all the comments and kudos.


	7. Chapter 7

  
“You’re on time.” Tally frowned at the sight of her best friend waiting by her car. It was a rare feat for Raelle to be ready before her, and even rarer still for a Monday morning. Tally usually had to drag the other girl out of her house, but Raelle was wide awake and even chipper as she grinned with a roll of her eyes at Tally. 

“It’s not that shocking, Tal.”

“It kind of is.” Said Tally as she unlocked the car and tossed her school bag on to the backseat. Raelle slipped in to the front passenger seat and waited for her. As Tally started the car up, Raelle reached for the radio. She found a song she liked it and cranked the volume up, tapping her hand on the dash as she hummed along.

Tally’s frown deepened. Raelle usually grumbled at Tally’s attempts to play music so early. “Someone is in a good mood.” She said, scrutinising Raelle out of the corner of her eye while she drove. The other girl was like a bear with a sore head most mornings. 

Raelle shrugged in response, playing Tally’s suspicions down. She could hardly tell her it was because of all the sex she’d had with Scylla over the weekend. They’d both agreed that nobody could know. Scylla had a boyfriend, and Raelle had a reputation to keep. She doubted either of her best friends would believe she was sleeping with a girl she was supposed to hate, anyway. 

Raelle had seen a new side to Scylla over the weekend. The other girl could be as playful as she was serious, and she wasn’t so bad outside school. Raelle was actually looking forward to seeing her again. 

“Hmm.” Tally pursed her lips. They drove past the high school to go pick Abigail up, since her car was in the shop. She picked up on Raelle’s cheerful mood right away.

“What’s up with Shitbird? She’s smiling.” Abigail pulled a face, like the blonde smiling was something unheard of. Raelle shook her head at her friends.

“You guys are acting like I’m always miserable.” She laughed. 

“You are, especially before noon.” Said Abigail. She narrowed her eyes, watching the other girl closely. “Did you get laid or something?”

Raelle couldn’t stop the blush that snaked its way across her cheeks and coloured the tips of her ears. “No.” She scoffed. “I’m just in a good mood is all.” 

“It’s weird.” Said Abigail. “I don’t like it.” 

“Abs, leave her alone.” Tally admonished her. It was nice to see Raelle happy, no matter the reason behind it. She drove them back to the school and pulled up in the parking lot beside Porter’s Mustang. 

Scylla and the boys were just climbing out of it, and Raelle’s stomach lurched at the sight of the other girl. She hadn’t seen Scylla since Saturday, when she’d spent the entire afternoon at Raelle’s, though they’d exchanged a few texts on Sunday. 

Raelle did her best to keep a straight expression as she climbed out of Tally’s car and Porter greeted her with a smile, Byron said hello to all three of them and Scylla ignored her point blank. 

For once, Raelle didn’t take the snub personally. They were meant to be acting like nothing had changed. She let Scylla walk off without a word, but pulled her phone out and sent her a text. 

**Raelle:** I almost didn’t recognise you without your clothes on.

She finished the text with a winking smiley face, hoping the other girl would take it as a joke; Scylla was the queen of blowing hot and cold, as the past week had shown.

Raelle’s phone buzzed a few moments later on her way in to the school building. She looked up from it and caught Scylla glancing back at her with a smirk. 

**Scylla:** I almost didn’t recognise your face without it between my legs.

Scylla’s playful response had Raelle blushing from head to toe. She cursed internally as she pocketed her phone. Fuck, now she was horny again; a state she’d spent most of the weekend in thanks to Scylla. She felt like a teenage boy who’d just discovered internet porn.

Raelle headed inside and left Tally and Abigail to go to her locker. Scylla was already standing at hers and taking her time in putting her things away. Raelle let her eyes linger over the other girl. She looked good. 

Scylla was wearing a chequered skirt that sat above her knees - Raelle couldn’t remember if she’d ever seen her wear a skirt before - and her form fitting sweater clung to her curves in all the right places.

Raelle slipped up along beside her. “Hey.” She said, expecting Scylla to greet her back, but she didn’t. Scylla didn’t even bother to look up at her as she closed her locker and walked away without a word. 

Raelle watched her go with a frown. Sure, they were keeping their new arrangement between themselves, but that didn’t mean Scylla couldn’t at least say ‘hi’ to her, especially when no one else was around. 

Raelle yanked her locker open harder than was necessary. She couldn’t believe Scylla acted like she didn’t even exist, like she hadn’t just sent Raelle that flirtatious text; talk about blowing hot and cold. Raelle wasn’t sure whether she was coming or going with the other girl. 

She shoved her books in to her locker, fuming at Scylla’s snub. Raelle had to remind herself that nothing had changed. They weren’t friends. Their arrangement was just about sex, as Scylla had just made abundantly clear. Raelle was fine with that, she wouldn’t make the mistake of trying to be nice to Scylla again. 

Raelle’s phone buzzed on her way to her homeroom. She pulled it out of her back pocket and found a text from Scylla waiting for her. A smirk spread over her lips as she read it. 

**Scylla:** Free period 2nd, got somewhere we can go? 

Raelle grinned to herself as she typed up a quick reply. She knew somewhere they could go that would afford them some privacy for whatever Scylla had in mind; Raelle certainly had some ideas thanks to Scylla’s skirt. 

When the start of second period came, Scylla walked in to the natatorium to meet her like Raelle had asked. She cast the pool a sideways glance as she skirted around the edge to greet Raelle. “If you’re going to suggest skinny dipping, then you can forget about it.” She said, her tone frosty. 

Raelle couldn’t help but tease her. “That’s a great idea, but maybe not in the middle of the school day. Come on, we can go in here.” She turned and headed for a door in the far corner of the room, opening it to reveal a supply closet. 

“A closet? Really?” Scylla twisted her face at the pool noodles stacked on the floor and the chemical bottles lining the shelves of the back wall. 

“Seemed like a good fit for you.” Raelle grinned, ignoring the way Scylla rolled her eyes at her. Despite her distaste she followed Raelle inside.

“Do you bring all the girls here?” Scylla asked dryly as she watched Raelle engage the lock on the door from the inside with a card from her wallet.

“Only the ones with boyfriends.” Raelle answered in the same dry tone. Scylla pursed her lips. She wasn’t in the mood for Raelle’s attitude. She pushed the other girl up against the wall and silenced her with a kiss that left them both breathless when she finally pulled away. 

“How about you shut up and put that mouth of yours to better use?” Said Scylla, a slow smirk spreading its way over her lips at the sight of Raelle, eyes wide and cheeks flustered. Raelle’s deer in the headlights expression didn’t last long. 

“Yes, ma’am.” She switched their positions, so she had Scylla pinned against the wall before she dropped to her knees in front of her. Scylla bit back a gasp. Despite her goading, she hadn’t been expecting Raelle to do that. 

“This is pretty. Did you wear it just for me? I’m flattered.” Raelle grinned as she toyed with the hem of the other girl’s skirt between her fingers. Scylla bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying anything that might make Raelle change her mind about what she was about to do. 

Raelle used one hand to hold up Scylla’s skirt, revealing creamy white thighs that Raelle had become intimately familiar with over the weekend. She used her free hand to pull Scylla’s panties aside. 

Scylla felt Raelle’s hot breath against her bare skin, and that was all the warning she got before the other girl pressed forward, burying her tongue between Scylla’s folds. “Fuck…” Scylla cursed, her hands holding on to Raelle’s shoulders and her hips arching forward as she threw her head back.

Raelle’s mouth was relentless. Her tongue licked at Scylla’s folds and circled her entrance before being replaced by her nimble fingers. She eased one inside the other girl, teasing her and opening her up while her mouth latched on to Scylla’s clit. Raelle licked and sucked at it as she slipped a second finger inside of Scylla. It didn’t take long until Scylla was grinding against her face, her walls clenching around Raelle’s fingers as she came with a cry. 

Scylla had a dazed, wide-eyed look about her as Raelle pulled out of her and wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. “Fuck… that was…” Scylla closed her eyes and shook her head as she tried to catch her breath. Raelle was great with her mouth; and she knew it. 

Raelle grinned, the picture of innocence as she pulled Scylla’s skirt back down in to place. “Just doing what you told me to, darlin’.” She said, a hint of Cession drawl slipping through and making Scylla’s inside clench all over again as tiny aftershocks from the orgasm Raelle had just ripped out of her rocked through her body. 

Scylla moved to repay the favour when Raelle’s phone rang, sounding painfully loud in the cramped closet. Raelle brought it out of her back pocket to answer it, giving Scylla an unobstructed view of the photo of Raelle and Tally goofing around that Raelle had set as the other girl’s contact picture. “Shit.” Raelle cursed under her breath at the sight of Tally’s name on her screen. “She’s probably wondering where I am-” 

Scylla reached down, snatching the other girl’s phone out of her hand before Raelle could answer it. She silenced it and slipped the iPhone in to a pocket in her skirt. Raelle opened her mouth to object, but fell silent as Scylla cupped her chin and drew her up to her feet for a kiss. “We don’t have long.” She said, her hands working on Raelle’s belt and undoing it with a clink. 

Scylla pulled down Raelle’s zip next and slipped her hand in to the other girl’s pants, her fingers teasing at Raelle through the thin fabric of her underwear. Raelle instantly forgot about her phone. 

“This hardly seems fair…” Raelle gasped as Scylla pushed two fingers inside of her. She swallowed hard and licked her lips as Scylla’s thumb traced over the hood of her clit. “I went down on you.” 

Scylla cocked her head to the side, her lips curling up in a smirk. “Wear a skirt to school and I’ll consider it.” 

“Fat chance!” Raelle scoffed. 

Scylla curled her fingers, drawing a heady moan from Raelle as she nipped at her bottom lip with her teeth. The other girl almost came right then and there. “Well then, take what you can get, Collar.” 

They finished up in the closet not long before the bell for third period sounded. Scylla took off to the bathroom to clean herself up, and it was only after she left Raelle reached for her phone and realised the other girl still had it. “Damn.” Raelle cursed. She wouldn’t see Scylla again until the lesson before lunch — Biology with Izadora.

Raelle took her seat shortly after the second bell. Scylla glanced up from her notebook to roll her eyes at her tardiness. “I handed our project in.” She said, catching Raelle by surprise. She’d forgotten all about it. 

“Thanks.” Raelle mumbled, trying to act as she usually did around the other girl. She was aware of Tally and Abigail sitting across the other side of the classroom. If anyone was going to pick up on what was going on between them, it would be those two. 

Raelle didn’t have time to ask for her phone back as Izadora finished roll-call and started the lesson. It was only after she set them more questions to work on from the textbook that Raelle could lean in close to Scylla and whisper, “You still have my phone.” 

Scylla slipped her hand in to her pocket and pulled Raelle’s phone out, passing it across to her without a word. She’d forgotten she had it until it had vibrated against her thigh in the middle of the last lesson. 

Raelle took it from her like they were doing a drug deal, hastily shoving it in to her pocket; but not before Tally spotted it. Across the room, she frowned at the exchange. Why on earth would Scylla have Raelle’s phone?

“Collar, Ramshorn, can the two of you stay back.” Izadora said as the bell went for lunch. Raelle’s stomach lurched. What had she done now? They’d worked together on the questions Izadora had set them. 

Abigail shot her best friend a sympathetic look on her way out of the room as Raelle hovered by Izadora’s desk. Scylla stood beside her, her arms folded across her chest.

“Ladies, I’ve read over your presentation. I’m impressed.” Said Izadora, looking at both of them. “I thought the two of you could do great things together, and I’m glad to be proved right.” 

“Thank you, Professor. We think so to.” Scylla bit back a smirk, her tone smug as Raelle snorted. The blonde schooled her features back in to a neutral expression as Izadora eyed them both critically. 

“Good to hear, keep it up, girls.” 

“We will.” Said Raelle, her hip knocking subtly in to Scylla’s.

Izadora reached behind her on her desk and picked up a stack of papers, offering them out to Raelle. “These are some of the scholarships we talked about last week.” 

“Uh, thanks.” Raelle snatched them from her and hastily shoved them in to her bag while Scylla looked on. She didn’t want the other girl to see them and question her, but her efforts were for nothing as they stepped out in to the hallway. 

“You’re applying for scholarships? What do you want to major in at college?” Scylla asked, trying to make conversation, but also surprised that she and Raelle had something in common. She wanted to go in to the sciences at college too — Botany in particular. 

“Yeah, we’re not doing that.” Said Raelle, brushing the question off — and maybe still smarting from Scylla’s brush off at their lockers earlier. She dropped her voice in the crowded hallway. “We’re having sex, Scyl. We’re not friends. You don’t need to ask me about stuff like that.” 

Scylla’s intense blue eyes widened like Raelle had just slapped her. “Fine.” She said, setting her lips in a tight line and adjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder. She stalked off ahead as she spotted Porter, leaving Raelle to watch on as she slipped her arms around him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

A familiar feeling stirred in Raelle’s stomach. It was like her insides were being churned, but she didn’t have a name for what she was feeling. She refused to accept that it was jealousy — like she’d told Scylla, it was just sex. What did Raelle care if Scylla had a boyfriend?

Raelle walked right past them and joined Tally and Abigail at their usual table in the cafeteria. Scylla and Porter soon followed, taking their seats beside Byron. 

Raelle shoved her ear-buds in and cranked up the volume on her music through her phone. Her good mood from earlier in the morning had vanished, and she wasn’t the only one to notice. 

“Hey.” Tally tapped her on the shoulder and Raelle popped one of her earphones out. “Um, did I see Scylla give you your phone in Biology? Why’d she have it?” 

The colour drained from Raelle’s cheeks as her eyes darted to the other side of the table. Scylla was doing her best to ignore her, her attention fixed on Porter as he told her about something that happened in his calculus class. 

Raelle swallowed the lump that had formed at the back of her throat. She had to think fast on her feet. “Uh, she was putting her number in for me. E-mailing about the project was a pain in the ass, so we swapped numbers for next time.” 

“Oh.” Said Tally, her smile unsure. Raelle wasn’t sure whether the other girl believed her; but either way Tally let it drop and Raelle let out the breath she’d been holding. 

“Hey, Collar!” Libba called out as she took a seat at their table next to Byron. “Coach cancelled practise tonight.” 

“Oh, thanks.” Said Raelle. That was one thing off her mind, anyway. The last time she’d been in a foul mood in training, she’d messed up all her dives and drawn Alder’s wrath down on her.

Moments after Libba made her announcement, Raelle’s phone pinged with a new message. Raelle bit the inside of her cheek as she sneaked a glance at the sender.

 **Scylla:** Looks like you’re free after school. 

**Raelle:** I’m starting to think you’re some kind of sex addict.

 **Scylla:** It’s good stress relief and I have a lot on. 

Raelle typed out a reply, angling her phone away from Tally, who had suddenly taken in an interest and was peering over her shoulder. Scylla had her phone hidden under the table and Raelle watched as she read her reply, a scowl appearing on her face. 

**Raelle:** I'm sure your boyfriend could help you with that. 

Scylla pursed her lips as she sent her reply, then slammed her phone down on the table. Turning her attention back to Porter, her hand found his arm and Raelle’s insides churned as she checked phone. 

**Scylla:** Fuck you, Collar. 

Raelle frowned. She sent a reply, but Scylla ignored her phone as it buzzed against the table. Not one to back down, Raelle sent her another. 

“Your phone, Scyl.” Porter reached for her phone and she snatched it up from the table. She read Raelle’s last two messages and bit back a smirk.

 **Raelle:** Fuck me yourself, coward. 

**Raelle:** My place after school?

Raelle watched as Scylla put her phone away in her pocket without replying to her. Her frown deepened, and she popped her earphone back in and buried her head, propping her chin up on her hand as she picked at her lunch. 

Raelle’s phone went off again just before the start of her next lesson. Scylla’s name flashed up on her screen and she rushed to open the message. It was one word, but it put a grin on Raelle’s face and brought her out of her mood. 

**Scylla:** Okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As ever, thanks for reading folks! The response to this fic has been amazing, so thanks for the comments and kudos and I'm glad people liked the Byron/Porter twist! For those asking whether Scylla's first was with Raelle, that will come up later in the fic 😊


	8. Chapter 8

  
A week after coming to their arrangement found Raelle and Scylla in the supply closet of the natatorium again, making out during their free period on a Friday afternoon. Raelle had been late in arriving, having had to escape from Study Hall - and Tally and Abigail - with an excuse about needing the bathroom. They had little time before the bell would ring for the last lesson of the day. 

Raelle’s phone buzzed constantly in her front pocket as Tally posted to their group chat with Abigail. It was Homecoming that night and Tally was excited about going to the senior bonfire down on the beach with Gerit. Abigail had tried warning her off the boy, but there was no swaying Tally. She’d been excited about Homecoming - and going with Gerit - since the start of school. 

Fort Salem was a small town. They didn’t have a football team, lacrosse being the preferred sport of the town, so there was no prep rally or parade for Homecoming. There was only the dance and the unofficial senior bonfire after. Most of the seniors would skip the dance altogether in favour of the bonfire on the beach. 

“Can you turn your phone off vibrate or something?” Scylla grumbled, her arms draped over Raelle’s shoulders and her body pressed between Raelle’s and the wall; a position she usually seemed to enjoy being in. 

“Sorry.” Raelle apologised sheepishly and fumbled to pull the phone out of her pocket before switching it off. “Tally is going crazy about Homecoming. Are you going?” 

“Are you asking me to the dance, Collar? That’s cute.” Scylla pulled a face, a smirk tugging at her lips as Raelle rolled her eyes, her hands finding Scylla’s hips again.

She leaned in to kiss Scylla on the mouth, her lips lingering as they curled up in amusement. “I’m not sure that’s what your boyfriend would say.” Raelle shot back. Scylla answered Raelle with a playful bite to her bottom lip that sent heat flooding between Raelle’s legs. 

“Play nice.” She said, holding Raelle’s gaze in her own. Raelle let out a groan as she dipped her head, pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses to Scylla’s throat. Not for the first time, she regretted not getting away from Study Hall earlier. There was no time for them to do anything, and Raelle was wound tighter than a three dollar watch. 

“We have to get to class.” Said Scylla, gently pushing Raelle away as her hand dipped between her legs, touching her over her jeans. 

“Tease.” Sulked Raelle, her bottom lip jutting out in a pretend sulk. Scylla bit down on her own lip to keep from moving to bite Raelle’s again. 

They really had to get to class, and if Scylla started anything then they’d be in that closet for the rest of the afternoon. It had already happened once in the week since they’d started their arrangement, and Scylla didn’t plan on playing truant again — no matter how good Raelle was with her mouth. 

Raelle unlocked the door, and the pair walked out of the closet. Scylla absently reached for Raelle’s hand, pulling her in close as she strayed too near the pool edge for her liking. Raelle chuckled, pulling her hand out of Scylla’s. 

“What is it with you and water?” She asked. “You’re always pulling me away from it.” 

“Because you’re clumsy as hell, that’s why.” Said Scylla dismissively.

“No, I’m not!” 

“Sure.” Scylla rolled her eyes and stopped as they reached the door leading out in to the hall. She stepped in close, put a hand to Raelle’s chest and kissed her, her tongue slipping past Raelle’s parted lips. Scylla told herself it was a way to distract Raelle from her question — and it worked. “See you at the bonfire?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Said Raelle, her eyes soft and unfocused as Scylla took a step back. “See you then.” 

Scylla walked out of the natatorium grinning to herself. She couldn’t deny there was something intoxicating about reducing Raelle Collar to a quivering mess with just a kiss; Raelle wasn’t the only one who was good with her mouth.

Her grin vanished as she bumped straight in to her brother. Raelle, who had spotted the other twin coming, ducked back in to the poolroom and out of sight. 

“Scyl, what were you doing in there?” Byron frowned at his sister like he’d just caught her coming out of the men’s room. There was about as much chance of that as her being in the natatorium. Scylla was terrified of the water. 

“I was… looking for Alder.” She answered, coming up with the lie on the spot. “I, uh, had to speak to her about an English paper I have due in on Monday.” 

“Oh.” Byron accepted her excuse at face value and linked his arm through hers, steering her towards their last class of the day. Scylla risked a glance over her should and spotted Raelle slipping in to the hallway. Her phone buzzed a few moments later with a message from the other girl. 

**Raelle:** That was a close call. 

Scylla couldn’t have agreed more.

“So, the dance tonight starts at seven. Porter has to show his face because he’s Homecoming King, but then we’re skipping out for the bonfire. You’re still coming, right?” 

Scylla’s heart was slamming against the wall of her chest at the near miss of being caught out by her brother. Going to the bonfire where there’d be alcohol and Raelle - historically not a good combination - no longer seemed like such a good idea. 

“Actually, I was thinking about giving it a miss-” 

“Don’t even think about it, Scyl! The Senior bonfire is a tradition! You have to come. Your English paper can wait… Besides, I have it on good authority that Raelle Collar will be there.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. 

Scylla grew defensive, hunching her shoulders as she pulled her arm free from her brother’s. “So?”

Byron shrugged. “You two have spent a lot time together the last two weeks is all. I figured you guys were friends now.” 

“Well, we’re not.” Said Scylla. “Izadora paired us up in Biology, we’ve been working on a project. That’s it.” 

“Whatever. You’re still coming to the bonfire with us. The Homecoming King needs his Queen, my dear!” Byron gave a flourish of his hand in her direction. 

“And he has him.” Said Scylla, her tone dripping with sarcasm. She gave in with a sigh as her brother gave her a pointed look. “Fine, I’ll go for you and Porter, but I hope you know I won’t enjoy myself and it will be all your fault.” 

“Excellent!” Byron perked up, throwing his arm around her shoulder. “That’s just what I like to hear!”  
  


* * *

  
Raelle sat curled up on the sand, her knees tucked up to her chin as she nursed the same bottle of beer she’d had for the last hour. The Senior bonfire was in full swing on the patch of beach near Abigail’s house, but Raelle wasn’t feeling it. 

She sat to the side, watching the guys screw around by the bonfire while Abigail supervised, shouting at them when they grew too close to the flames. Tally was off flirting with Gerit somewhere, leaving Raelle to entertain herself. She checked her phone, but there were no messages from Scylla. She was still at the dance with Porter and Byron.

Raelle let out a sigh, pulling her hood up and hugging her denim jacket tighter to herself as the wind picked up. She would rather have spent the night the same way she’d spent her last two Friday nights — between Scylla’s legs. 

The sex was great, and Raelle found herself warming to the other girl. Scylla wasn’t so bad outside of school, when it was just the two of them. It had crossed Raelle’s mind more than once that the Scylla she saw at school almost seemed like an act of some sort; like a coat of armour, Scylla shrugged on to keep the rest of the world at bay.

The girl in question arrived not long after eight o’clock, walking on to the beach holding her boyfriend’s hand. Raelle felt that familiar stirring in the pit of her stomach, the one she still hadn’t found a name for. Porter was wearing his Homecoming crown, which the rest of the guys on the lacrosse team took great delight in ribbing him for. 

Byron swiped the crown from Porter’s head and put it on his own, which the other boy didn’t seem to mind. They seemed close, which was unsurprising since Porter and the twins had grown up living across the street from each other. Raelle wondered again how Byron felt about Scylla and Porter dating. 

Raelle and Scylla’s eyes met as the other girl reached in to the cooler sitting in the sand across from Raelle and took out a beer. Scylla glanced away without acknowledging her. Raelle took a swig of her own beer, biting down the urge to stalk over to Scylla and call her out. 

The night passed by steadily with Raelle moving on to her third beer and Scylla continuing to ignore her. Tally and Abigail came over to sit with her at times, but mostly Raelle was left alone with that unnameable feeling in the pit of her stomach that grew stronger every time she spotted Porter with his arms around Scylla.

The pair stood by the bonfire, keeping warm. Byron had a beer in one hand and his free arm wrapped around Scylla’s waist, holding her close while she rested her chin on his shoulder. Raelle heard the other girl giggling at something Porter said, and her insides churned. Sure, Porter could make her laugh, but he couldn’t make her come.

Raelle decided she’d had enough and stumbled off towards the cliffs, her feet slipping in the sand. She climbed the bluff overlooking the ocean below and felt an instant sense of relief at being away from the others. The sharp wind that bit at her cheeks - that and the alcohol making them rosy - was almost worth it just for the view. 

Raelle stood by the edge of the cliff, watching the water lap at the jagged rocks below. She cast her eyes to the horizon, reared back her arm and tossed her empty beer bottle as far as she could throw it. It sailed through the air before dropping in to the inky water with a splash. 

“Don’t jump.” She heard a voice behind her and didn’t need to turn to know who it belonged to. A wry smile spread its way over Raelle’s lips as she turned to face Scylla, her hands on her hips.

“Wasn’t planning to.” 

“Good.” Said Scylla, cocking her head to the side as she watched Raelle closely. “That would be a waste. You shouldn’t be so close to the edge, though. It’s not safe.”

Raelle shook her head, making no attempt to step away from the edge of the cliff, despite Scylla’s concerns. “Seriously, what is it with you and water?” 

Scylla’s expression darkened as she wrapped her arms around herself, either staving off the cold or Raelle’s question. “Sorry for caring.” She scoffed. 

Raelle ran her tongue over her teeth, her ice-blue eyes boring in to Scylla’s. “Do you? Care?” 

Scylla, flinched. She sucked her cheeks in and clenched her jaw — and walked off without giving Raelle an answer. Raelle cursed under her breath, her shoulders sagging. 

She made her way back to the bonfire below a few minutes after Scylla. The other girl stood leaning back against Porter’s chest, with both his arms wrapped around her. 

She caught Raelle looking and turned her head to press a kiss to Porter’s jaw. He responded in kind by tucking his chin on to her shoulder and tightening his hold on her. 

Raelle felt sick to her stomach. She turned away and stalked off to her spot on the sand, at the very edge of the bonfire’s heat.

“You look like you could use this.” Raelle looked from up from watching the fire and found Byron standing over her, holding out a beer. She took it with a mumbled ‘thanks’ and Byron took a seat beside her.

Raelle was hardly in the mood for company, least of all in the form of Scylla’s brother, but he didn’t press her to make conversation.

Raelle picked at the label on her beer, a question playing on her mind. “Hey, Byron, why is Scylla so weird around water?” She asked, hoping to get an answer. Raelle loved the water. It was her safe place. She couldn’t understand why anyone would be afraid of it. “Doesn’t she know how to swim, or something?” 

Byron glanced away, his shoulders sagging. He took a drink of his beer and Raelle expected him to blow her off like Scylla had. “It’s not like that.” He finally said, turning back to look at Raelle. 

“You know our parents died, right?” He asked, catching Raelle off guard. She did. Everyone in town knew the twins had lost their parents at a young age. It had happened the year after Raelle came to town, but she couldn’t remember the details; just like she didn’t remember if Scylla had been different back then or not. 

“What does that have to do with Scylla being scared of the water?” She asked, the alcohol loosening her tongue and breaking down her inhibitions — Her Mom, with her southern sensibilities, would kill Raelle if she knew she was asking someone how their parents died. 

Byron’s features tightened, his lips pursing in a tight line. Raelle almost told him to forget about it, but he answered before she got a chance. “Their car went off the bridge over Diamond Creek.” Byron spoke in a low voice, the popping and crackling of the nearby fire almost drowning him out. Raelle had to lean in closer to hear him. 

“I was at home sick, but Scylla was with them. She almost drowned.” Byron dropped his gaze to his hands, his anguish written all over his face. He’d almost lost Scylla.

Losing his parents had been bad enough, but the thought of losing his twin too always brought tears to his eyes. He discreetly wiped at them with the back of his sleeve. “Anacostia pulled her out. She’s been terrified of the water ever since.” 

Raelle felt a pang in her gut. It was no wonder Scylla got so panicky around water — and that she hadn’t wanted to talk about it. 

“She changed after it happened.” Said Byron, pulling Raelle away from internally beating herself up about being such an asshole to the other girl. “She shut down, closed herself off. Porter and I were the only ones she let in.”

Byron bit the inside of his cheek as he stole a glance at his sister - and his boyfriend - she would kill him for saying all of this, but it needed to be said; and Raelle seemed like the right person to say it to. 

“Scyl is hard to crack, but she’s worth it when she lets you in.” He knocked his shoulder in to Raelle’s with a conspiratorial smirk. “It’s nice to see her spending time with someone who isn’t me, or Porter. Hang in there, okay?” 

“Sure.” Raelle ducked her head as she felt her cheeks heating up, not sure what Byron knew about them. She didn’t get the time to ask as she glanced back up and caught sight of Scylla walking off the beach towards Porter’s car. “Uh, I got to go do something. Thanks, Byron.” Byron watched on in amusement as Raelle followed his sister. 

Raelle caught up to the other girl as Scylla was pulling a picnic blanket out of Porter’s trunk. “Hey,” She said, her cheeks flustered as Scylla narrowed her eyes at her. “Can I talk to you?”

“You’re doing it right now, so I’d say yes.” Said Scylla, still smarting from their encounter on the cliff. She wouldn’t make this easy on Raelle. 

Raelle, for her part, didn’t bite. She was the one in the wrong and she was big enough to admit — that, or the alcohol was making her soft. “I’m sorry for before, what I said about you being weird around water. It’s none of my business.” 

Scylla crossed her arms over her chest as she took a seat on the edge of Porter’s trunk. “Has Byron been telling tales?” 

Raelle rubbed at the back of her neck, her guilt written plain across her face. “He told me what happened to your folks. I’m sorry.” 

“Forget about it.” Scylla dismissed her with a shrug. It wasn’t as easy for her to talk about that stuff as it was for Byron. He wasn’t there — He hadn’t kicked his way out of their family car as it sunk to the creek bed, ice cold water washing over him and plunging him in to darkness. Scylla shivered at the memories she usually kept buried deep. 

Raelle took a seat beside her on the ledge of the trunk, knocking their shoulders together with an easy familiarity. “If it bothers you, we can find somewhere else to make out at school?” 

Scylla rolled her eyes and bit down on her lip to keep from smiling. “Who says I want to keep making out with you?” 

“I know you want to do more than that.” Slightly buzzed from the alcohol, Raelle grinned, her hand cupping the back of Scylla’s neck as she moved in to kiss her. The other girl put up no objection as she kissed her back. 

“Would Porter notice if you took off?” Raelle asked, her thumb caressing the back of Scylla’s neck in a way that made Scylla’s knees weak.

She shook her head. “I’m sure Byron can keep him busy.” 

Raelle’s grin widened, “My Mom is on night-shift and Pops is playing poker with his buddies, so we’ll have the house to ourselves… and I can apologise to you properly.” 

“Well, when you put it that way.” Said Scylla, leaning in to Raelle’s touch. “It would be rude to say no.”


End file.
